Hiroyuki Kobayashi, the producer behind titles like 2001’s Devil May Cry, 2005’s Resident Evil 4 and 2012’s Dragon’s Dogma, has announced his departure from Capcom after 27 years. Kobayashi originally joined the Japanese games company back in 1995 where he worked on a multitude of games as both a programmer and producer.

Kobayashi announced his exit from Capcom in a recent statement, confirming his move to NetEase Games where he will take on the role of a producer too. The developer originally worked as a programmer on the original Resident Evil and a planner on Dino Crisis before securing a more permanent role as a producer on the aforementioned titles during the 2000s.

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Kobayashi’s full statement reads:

“Today, August 12th, is my 50th birthday.

As such, I would like to share something very special with everyone:

After serving 27 years with gratitude, I have departed from Capcom on March 31, 2022, and will be officially joining NetEase Games as a producer.

Detailed plans will be shared later, so please stay tuned.

I will strive to continuously create more enjoyable entertainment experiences for everyone at this new company, in this new era.

Thank you for the continued support.”

In related news, Capcom has multiple projects currently in development including the long-awaited Dragon’s Dogma 2 which was confirmed earlier this year. Street Fighter 6 is also being heavily marketed ahead of its launch in 2023, while Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition is expected to release in October. However, a new leak has spilled some details on Resident Evil 9, which you can read in depth here.

In addition to its staple IPs, Capcom is moving ahead with two new titles: the dinosaur multiplayer shooter Exoprimal and its mysterious sci-fi project Pragmata, which has yet to receive a release date or any concrete gameplay. A ground-up remake of Resident Evil 4 is also being worked on but without Kobayashi’s involvement.

Source: PlayStation Universe