Keiji Inafune was a charismatic leader, says a former colleague, but Capcom will do just fine without him.
Marvel vs. Capcom 3 producer Ryota Niitsuma says that Capcom filled the gap left by veteran producer Keiji Inafune’s unexpected departure by pulling together and working as a team. Niitsuma said that the effort had made people at Capcom closer than ever before.
During Inafune’s 23-year-long career at Capcom he worked on a variety of the company’s best known properties, including Mega Man, Resident Evil and Street Fighter. Niitsuma said that he respected Inafune as a game creator, and called him a “charismatic leader,” but didn’t think that he was completely irreplaceable. He felt that Capcom had a lot of talented staff, both in terms of designers and programmers, who would be able to fill the void.
He didn’t blame Inafune for leaving Capcom however, saying that there was no point in him staying if his passion and creative goals lay in a different direction. Niitsuma thought that Inafune was finally doing what he really wanted to do, and wished him luck for the future.
Speaking about his departure last year, Inafune said that he wanted to make different types of games to the ones he made at Capcom, and possibly even work on non-game projects. He also said that he would use his new found freedom to push himself further than he had before.
Source: Edge
