Astral Chain Director Takahisa Taura Announces Departure from PlatinumGames to Found New Studio

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Game designer Takahisa Taura, renowned for his work with PlatinumGames on titles like NieR: Automata and Astral Chain, has shared that he’s parting ways with the studio. According to a post spotted by user Genki_JPN on social media platform X, this decision was made public via Japanese publication Famitsu. In his announcement, Taura unveiled plans to launch his very own game development studio, which he has named Eel Game Studio.

As a die-hard fan, I can’t contain my excitement about Taura joining Eel Game Studio! Although he hasn’t disclosed the specifics of the projects he’ll be working on, he’s proudly acknowledged his role as one of the studio’s founding members. With time and the addition of more team members, I’m confident that we’ll soon have a clearer picture of their first major project in full swing.

Originally one of the pioneering creative minds at PlatinumGames, Hideki Kamiya bid farewell to the company as early as 2023. Since then, it has been disclosed that he is now collaborating with a fresh team, CLOVERS, on a follow-up to the timeless adventure game “Okami.

PlatinumGames expressed heartfelt appreciation for Kamiya’s innovative concepts, guidance, and role in our growth, from our early days up until now. They expect him to thrive further as a game creator in his future ventures. We eagerly anticipate the game industry’s progress as it continues to improve with Kamiya involved.

Concurrently, PlatinumGames has been collaborating with Koei Tecmo’s Team Ninja on “Ninja Gaiden 4”. Back in January, it was Team Ninja producer Fumihiko Yasuda who disclosed that the concept of joining forces with PlatinumGames for development originated from Microsoft’s Gaming head, Phil Spencer. Additionally, the friendship between Koei Tecmo president Hisashi Koinuma and PlatinumGames president Atsushi Inaba played a role in this collaboration.

It’s been over ten years since the Ninja Gaiden series has seen new releases, but Team Ninja has been contemplating creating a new installment for quite some time. As reported by Yasuda, they found it challenging to settle on a specific plan. That was until Koei Tecmo president Hisashi Koinuma and PlatinumGames president Atsushi Inaba, who are from the same generation and share a friendship, had an opportunity to discuss this very issue.

Following this, Phil Spencer from Microsoft proposed a joint venture between PlatinumGames, Koei Tecmo, and Microsoft on a fresh installment in the Ninja Gaiden series. This idea sparked the project’s initiation. Since we were embarking on a new Ninja Gaiden after more than a decade, we admired the action game expertise of PlatinumGames, having already produced successful titles like Bayonetta and NieR: Automata. So, we decided to partner with them, thus commencing our collaboration.

Right now, the team is working on Ninja Gaiden 4, which is planned for release on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S in Fall 2025. On its debut day, it will also be accessible via PC and Xbox Game Pass. In an effort to revitalize the Ninja Gaiden series, Team Ninja has already introduced an Unreal Engine 5 remaster of Ninja Gaiden 2, titled Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, back in January.

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2025-05-02 08:11