Capcom veteran producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi revealed that he has left the company to join NetEase. Kobayashi revealed that he had left the company earlier this year, and is currently working as a producer on a new project at NetEase. In addition to his work on the Sengoku Basara series, Kobayashi also helped produce Dino Crisis 2 and Devil May Cry, among others.
Kobayashi announced his departure from Capcom in a tweet celebrating his 50th birthday. The tweet reveals that Kobayashi left the company on March 31, 2022, and had already been working at NetEase Games as a producer. Furthermore, Kobayashi urges fans to expect an announcement about his next work in the future.
皆さんへ pic.twitter.com/L99ZWqGkCS
— 小林裕幸 (@HiroKobaP) August 12, 2022
Joining Capcom in 1995 as a programmer, Kobayashi’s debut work was the original Resident Evil. His first project as a producer was Dino Crisis 2 in 2000. Kobayashi went on to produce some of the company’s most popular franchises as well as a few cult classic hits. These include the Resident Evil remake in 2002, Dragon’s Dogma, Killer7, as well as his work as Sengoku Basara series producer.
In addition to his work as a video game producer, Kobayashi was also involved in various anime adaptations and films. Notably, Kobayashi played a significant role as planning supervisor of the Sengoku Basara anime series. He also worked as a producer on Resident Evil: Degeneration, Damnation, Vendetta, and Infinite Darkness.
Kobayashi joins a growing number of Japanese video game industry veterans at NetEase. Earlier this year, NetEase announced it had founded Nagoshi Studio, with Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi at the helm. Back in 2021, No More Heroes developer Grasshopper Manufacture also joined NetEase.
