Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement director Shutaro Ida has passed away 52 after battling pancreatic cancer for 18 months, his family have confirmed on Ida-san’s X account. In wake of news of his sad passing, Castlevania mastermind Koji Igarashi has vowed to complete The Scarlet Engagement to honor Ida’s original vision.
Ida had worked at Konami from 1996 to 2015 primarily as a programmer, with his first gaming credit being PlayStation’s Sexy Parodius. He went on to serve as a programmer on 2003’s Game Boy Advance title Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, after which he was heavily involved with the franchise, having worked on the likes of Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, and others.
In addition, Ida also worked on Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeros and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, having been involved with the Xbox 360 and PC versions, respectively. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was the last game he completed prior to his death, which launched on PS4 in 2019.
Now, Igarashi-san, who worked with Ida for 20 years across Konami and ArtPlay, has released his own tribute and has pledged to ensure that the new title is “properly completed.”
I’ve been working with him ever since Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow. It’s not an exaggeration to say that many games hailed as masterpieces would not have succeeded without his contributions. His talent was exceptional.
I feel that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night’s success was also in a large part down to his incredible support. Looking back, he’s been supporting me for over 20 years. He was the kind of person who always thought about games, tackling game development like he was burning his life away. I hope he can rest peacefully now as he was always running at full throttle.
We will take on his aspirations for the game and see that it is properly completed, so as not to disappoint him.
[Source – Koji Igarashi, Shutaro Ida on X via IGN]