Takahisa Taura, the designer of Nier Automata and director on Astral Chain, has revealed after months of speculation that he has indeed left developer PlatinumGames.
Taura-san confirmed his exit from the studio in an interview with Famitsu magazine, confirming that he has now established his own development team in the form of Eel Game Studio. However, he wasn’t able to share any more information at this point.
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It was previously rumoured that Taura had departed PlatinumGames after he removed references to the company from his X account last year, and his Facebook page was also altered so that his place of work removed PlatinumGams in favour of the then-unannounced Eel Game Studio. Notably, Taura was also featured in a video segment posted by Hideki Kamiya back in February, which was titled ‘Former PlatinumGames Directors’ drinking party.’
Kamiya-san himself announced he was leaving the company back in September 2023. He has since returned to Capcom to front the brand new Clovers studio, which is developing a fresh entry in the Okami franchise.