Following his work on Dragon’s Dogma 2, Hideaki Itsuno departed from Capcom after a long career spanning more than two decades. During this time, he worked on multiple IPs, becoming most famous for his contributions to Devil May Cry.
Hideaki Itsuno now works at LightSpeed Studios Japan, helming a new action game under Tencent at the Osaka and Tokyo-based studio. Although information on this new game remains limited, a new job listing spotted by the Clawsomegamer team suggests that it features online gameplay.
LightSpeed Studios Japan is looking to hire a System Designer for work on its first big project. The job ad notes that this team is led by the veteran Devil May Cry director and aims to craft original action games.
In the qualifications section of the listing, LightSpeed Studios asks for practical experience with online games more than once, both when referencing the gameplay systems and overall development. As such, Hideaki Itsuno appears to be experimenting with online elements for his latest project.
Since the job ad mentions ‘large-scale online games,’ the developer may be working on an MMO-like experience for this action game. In the past, he has already shown an interest in open-world gameplay, as seen in titles like Dragon’s Dogma, albeit without online elements, so the transition to a large-scale online world would not be completely unnatural.
“Practical experience in designing game systems for action games or online games.”
“Experience developing AAA titles or large-scale online games.”
Elsewhere, Hideaki Itsuno’s latest interview with Famitsu confirms that this project has entered full production. LightSpeed Studios was set up in late 2024, so the team is certainly making rapid progress on its first project.
As mentioned earlier, Hideaki Itsuno has plenty of experience with action games and understands the genre more than most. His last contribution to the Devil May Cry series already integrated online elements to some capacity, allowing players to come across others online during certain missions.
Although Devil May Cry 5’s online component was limited to allowing players to spectate others’ gameplay in real time, this system may have given the director ideas for the future. Perhaps his first project at LightSpeed Studios will build on the potential online elements included in Devil May Cry 5.
