is a Japanese video game producer. He was the former CEO and producer of the Capcom subsidiary Clover Studio, who developed the games Viewtiful Joe, Ōkami, and God Hand. He is currently the head producer at the development division at PlatinumGames and the CEO since 2021, after years being vice-president in the company.
Career Inaba was born in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, in 1971.
Inaba first worked for Irem, specifically working on R-Type Leo. From there he joined Nazca Corporation and then SNK, where he did programming work on the Samurai Shodown series. After reading a want ad for Capcom in Famitsu magazine, Inaba joined the company in 1998 with hopes of working on the next Resident Evil game. He ended up working on Hideki Kamiya's Devil May Cry, and later produced games in the Ace Attorney and Steel Battalion series. Inaba, Kamiya, and Shinji Mikami, as well as other Capcom employees, began working at the company's new second-party developer Clover Studio in April 2004. Inaba acted as the team's producer and CEO, which managed to produce a few titles, including the critically acclaimed Ōkami. Inaba left Capcom in 2006 to form his own company, named SEEDS. Clover was being officially closed by Capcom in early 2007.
In October 2007, SEEDS merged with the company ODD. This new company was rebranded as PlatinumGames. He holds the position of head producer of the development division.
The company employs many former key members of Clover. In May 2008, PlatinumGames announced a four-game deal with Sega. The games involved in the development and publishing deal include Bayonetta, a "stylish action game" for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 directed by Hideki Kamiya and featuring "a witch battling angels", a science-fiction RPG for the Nintendo DS called Infinite Space, MadWorld, an "ultra ultra violent" action game for the Wii with black and white Sin City-inspired graphics., and Vanquish, an action heavy third-person shooter directed by Shinji Mikami. A fifth game, Anarchy Reigns, was later added to this deal and was released in 2012 for PS3 and Xbox 360.
Inaba was also the producer for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance after PlatinumGames picked up development from Kojima Productions.
In January 2022, it was announced that he would be the new CEO of PlatinumGames. Previously, Inaba was vice-president for years.
Recognition Inaba was ranked number 49 on IGN'''s Top 100 Game Creators of All Time list in 2009.
Works Video games Year Game Role 1992 Bomber Man World Planner R-Type Leo 1997 Samurai Shodown 64 Programmer 1998 Samurai Shodown 64: Warriors Rage Programmer 2001 Resident Evil – Code: Veronica X Assistant producer Devil May Cry Technical cooperation Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Producer Granbo 2002 Black Black Steel Battalion Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Justice for All 2003 Viewtiful Joe 2004 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Trials and Tribulations Steel Battalion: Line of Contact Viewtiful Joe 2 2005 Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble! 2006 Ōkami God Hand 2009 MadWorld Infinite Space 2010 Vanquish 2012 Anarchy Reigns 2013 Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance The Wonderful 101 2014 Bayonetta 2 The Legend of Korra Executive producer 2015 Transformers: Devastation 2016 Star Fox Zero Producer Star Fox Guard Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan Executive producer 2017 Nier: Automata 2019 Astral Chain 2021 World of Demons2022Sol Cresta Bayonetta 32023Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon
Canceled gamesScalebound – ProducerLost Order – ProducerProject G.G.'' – Producer
References
External links
PlatinumGames website