Former Devil May Cry director Hideaki Itsuno is reportedly making a AAA online game, according to a recent job posting.
Hideaki Itsuno’s new company, LightSpeed, is already looking for a team of experts on its first big project. In the job listing, the team is looking for talented developers who have “Experience developing AAA titles or large-scale online games.”
The job listing also mentions they are looking for developers who have practical experience in designing game systems for action games similar to their acclaimed Devil May Cry series.
This may not hint at Hideaki Itsuno’s new game, but it’s possible that LightSpeed’s upcoming game may be MMO-related. Fans are already hoping what possible gameplay approach Itsuno will tackle in his debut game, while others are still reeling from his exit at Capcom.
This isn’t the first time Hideaki Itsuno has dabbled in online systems before. Devil May Cry 5, the latest and potentially the final game in the series, had minor online elements via a “Cameo System.” In certain levels of DMC5, players would occasionally encounter other players from a distance, doing their own thing as they hunt down hell’s legions. Oftentimes, these are real people playing the game at the same time, but as the game’s popularity waned, they only find ghost data of someone else’s gameplay.
Dragon’s Dogma 2, which was Hideaki Itsuno’s final game at Capcom, also has strong online mechanics with the “Pawn System.” Players can recruit other players’ characters and let them join their sessions as AI-controlled NPCs. While they’re not exactly player-controlled, they act like a regular player should, like healing you, assisting in battles, and calling out enemy weaknesses.
Hideaki Itsuno’s unannounced AAA game playing around online systems wouldn’t be surprising, as he already has the experience from his previous titles. However, after moving to greener pastures, this is no longer an IP we are familiar with, unlike Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma.
Fans are already hoping that his upcoming AAA game could integrate a seamless online experience where players work together to hack and slash enemies in Itsuno’s stylish character action. Others are worried that this might be a live-service game, which is the complete opposite of his directorial style.
At the moment, LightSpeed’s upcoming AAA game is still being kept under wraps as it's still in development. It’s only been two and a half years since Hideaki Itsuno started working at LightSpeed following his departure from Capcom in August 2024.
In the meantime, we can only imagine a game that mixes the best parts of Dragon’s Dogma 2’s Pawn System and Devil May Cry 5’s combat into a full-fledged online experience. Since Itsuno has a reputation for reinventing gameplay systems with light online integration, there might be something grand about his AAA online vision that we are yet to find out in the coming years.
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