Recently, and especially last week, there were a surprising number of noteworthy video game developers who left their positions at the companies where they made names for themselves.
The video game industry is changing as small-scale development becomes much more attractive, and the backing of a major publisher isn’t necessary to create a successful game. These are the developers who recently left, and why they’re worth paying attention to, even if they are no longer working on the franchises you know them for.
Jaime Griesemer – March 18
Griesemer was the lead designer on Sucker Punch’s Infamous Second son, but his history extends beyond Sony’s PlayStation 4 exclusive to one of Microsoft’s most noteworthy exclusives. Griesemer worked with Bungie on the Halo series, and also did preliminary work on the upcoming Destiny before moving over to Sucker Punch. At the moment, Griesemer isn’t ready to talk about what’s next for his career.
For more on Griesemer, check out our interview with him when we visited Sucker Punch Studios during our coverage of Infamous Second Son.
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Tetsuya Mizuguchi – March 18
Mizuguchi’s departure is a complicated one. He left the development side of Q Entertainment in 2012, but stayed on as a consultant in order to make his transition away from the company more fluid. He has mostly been doing his own things separate of Q Entertainment since that time, but reports suggest he recently fully severed himself from the company.
Mizuguchi directed Child of Eden, and served as a producer on a number of memorable games including Lumines, Rez, and Space Channel 5.
Atman Binstock – March 11
Binstock was the lead engineer for Valve's VR project. Binstock worked to help overcome the motion-sickness that is a common by-product of virtual reality. Before Valve, he also worked with Intel and DICE. Binstock left Valve to take a position with Oculus Rift.
Stig Asmussen – March 18
Asmussen was the creative director on God of War III, but before that he served the role of lead environment artist and art director on the previous God of War titles. He also stars in this commercial promoting Art Institute college.
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It’s unclear exactly where Asmussen will land next, or why he left Sony.
Koji Igarashi – March 17
Igarashi spearheaded the Castlevania series for years as producer. He helped to make Castlevania: Symphony of the Night the classic it is today and was producer on every Castlevania game through Xbox Live Arcade’s multiplayer Harmony of Despair.
Igarashi left Konami in order to create his own studio. He has no concrete plans or ideas he is ready to talk about, but he has shown a preference for 2D, and a continued appreciation for Metroidvania-style games.
Amy Hennig – March 5
The details surrounding Hennig’s departure aren’t completely clear, but Naughty Dog did release a statement to clarify, at least in some small detail, why she decided to leave as well as expel some of the rumors of her leaving.
The studio has nothing but positive words for Hennig saying she will be missed. Hennig was the writer and director behind the Uncharted series, and was an important component of Naughty Dog. You can read a deep dive on her past and future career by heading here.
Non-Developer Departures
Marc Whitten – March 17
Whitten was not on the creative side of game development, but he has been an important component of Microsoft and Xbox since the launch of the original console. According to corporate vice president of Microsoft Game Studios Phil Spencer, Whitten left for family and professional reasons, and to take on a position at Sonos speakers.
Karl Stewart – March 20
Stewart was the vice president of strategic marketing for Europe and North America for Square Enix before leaving. Like Whitten, he was less involved with the creative direction of video game design, but was heavily involved in bringing the recent Tomb Raider to life.
Stewart left to take on a position with Petrol Advertising, but specifically cited being involved with Tomb Raider as the "crowning glory" of his time at Square Enix.