Mega Man Creator Leaves Capcom

Head of development Keiji Inafune announces departure from company of 23 years.

Keiji Inafune is currently head of R&D at Capcom and CEO of Capcom online gaming subsidiary Daletto. This will remain true only through the end of the month. Inafune announced via his blog today that at the end of the month, he will be taking leave of his posts at both companies. He did not say where he would end up.

Inafune entered Capcom 23 years ago, initially working as a character designer. He rose to become a major producer at the company, eventually heading up all R&D efforts and also taking on CEO duties at Daletto, a Capcom subsidiary that operates online games like Monster Hunter Frontier Online.

Recently, Inafune has been the source of some controversial comments regarding the Japanese game industry. At a Dead Rising 2 Tokyo Game Show party last year, he declared the Japanese industry dead after having seen the offerings on display at the show.

In his blog post, Inafune did not provide a clear reason for leaving. He referred to Capcom as "a truly a good company," adding "I love Capcom." However, he indicated that he would probably not end up working with Capcom in the future.

Those worried about Inafune taking flight of the industry can probably relax. He did indicate that one possible reason for his departure is that he'd reached the peak of the Capcom development hierarchy and that he had no further steps to take at the company. "It would probably be good for me to sit gracefully in this seat and become a leading figure in the industry," wrote Inafune. "However, I cannot do this. Settling down means death for a creator. As long as you are a creator, you cannot settle down."

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