Nevertheless, the studio is “hard at work” on the sequel. “Although the release is still a ways off, we cannot wait to get the finished game into your hands. We will continue to work tirelessly this year to deliver an experience that surpasses the expectations of players all over the world.”

Studio head and chief game designer Hideki Kamiya also echoed those thoughts, revealing that the team has “had our noses to the grindstone so thoroughly that before we knew it, another year has passed us by. (Yes, that means we’ve been hard at work on the game, don’t worry!)”

He also chronicled how Clovers had steadily grown two years ago from “just a handful of us sharing a cramped rental office” to a “fully-fledged studio with offices in Tokyo and Osaka.”

“We’ve assembled an elite team of highly-skilled professionals with shared ideals,” said Kamiya. “And while the chaos is as lively as ever, our days are filled with joy and creativity. Ultimately, everyone at Clovers is united around a single desire: to deliver fun to our players. That’s our one and only mission, and it will remain that way this year, next year, and all the years after that.

“With my like-minded comrades at my side, I am truly looking forward to another year of lively chaos.”

The long-awaited Okami sequel was first revealed at The Game Awards 2024. A short trailer confirmed the return of Amaterasu, but nothing is known about the premise (aside from continuing the first game’s story), much less the gameplay. Capcom producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi later revealed that it was developed on RE Engine. “We believe that without RE Engine at this point, we wouldn’t be able to realize [director Hideki] Kamiya-san’s artistic dreams for this project.”

The original Okami launched in April 2006 for the PlayStation 2 and then the Nintendo Wii in 2008. An HD version would subsequently release for PS3, PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Despite poor sales, which contributed to the closure of Clover Studio, it received extensive critical acclaim. It also received a spiritual successor, Ōkamiden, released in 2010 exclusively for Nintendo DS.

Answering a question about how we don’t quite see as many prolific project cancellations from Japanese developers and publishers, Kamiya noted that Japanese publishers tend to be “more understanding toward creators.” He draws on his experience in working with companies like Sega, Capcom, Nintendo, Konami and Koei Tecmo.

“Speaking from a creative perspective, I’ve worked with Sega, Capcom, and Nintendo,” said Kamiya. “And during my time at PlatinumGames, I also collaborated with Japanese publishers like Konami and Koei Tecmo, as well as overseas publishers such as Microsoft, Tencent, and Activision. What it feels like when working with Japanese publishers is that the development culture feels closer to mind, and they tend to be more understanding toward creators.”

Discussing his own views on game development, Kamiya likens his process as being more like inventing a thing, which often leads to titles helmed by him to have some new and unique mechanics. Okami, for example, incorporated its water painting aesthetics into its gameplay, giving players a paint brush with which they could solve puzzles and attack enemies. The Wonderful 101 similarly gave players the ability to form shapes with their groups of superheroes to then transform into unique weapons.

“I think of game development as a kind of invention,” he explained. “For example, in Bayonetta we had Witch Time, in The Wonderful 101 we had Unite Morphs, and with Okami it was the Celestial Brush. My goal is always to build in a unique mechanic that only that game can have. On the Japanese side, my impression is that they see you’re trying to make a new invention. They understand the struggle of trying to give birth to something new, and they watch over the process with patience. That’s where I see there’s a difference with publishers.”

And this, he noted, was a big difference between the Western approach to publishing when compared to Japanese companies. He spoke about how Western companies tend to put pressure on developers when they are trying out new concepts. Kamiya also drew comparison to Western companies’ love for making first-person shooters, believing that “they feel a sense of safety following an established format.”

“But with Scalebound, and this is information already out there, so I can say it, what we were trying to build was a system where the player controlled both a human protagonist and a dragon together in an adventure,” he said. “But there was no clear reference or format for us to follow for a game like that. And I think that’s why it was easy for some to have doubts.”

Ultimately, Kamiya believes that Scalebound’s fate would have been different if the publishing were being handled by a Japanese company. “I don’t mean that if it had been a Japanese publisher, the game would necessarily have been completed and released, but I imagine the process itself would have played out differently,” he said. “For me personally, overseas publishers seem to have a much stronger desire to see a finished product as quickly as possible. If it had been a Japanese publisher, I feel they might have given us more leeway.”

Kamiya did make it clear, however, that he is specifically talking about the situation with Scalebound. He wants there to be no misunderstanding about why the project was ultimately cancelled, noting that it was solely on the development team at PlatinumGames and him as the director.

“But because I have now experienced working with overseas publishers, I feel that if the opportunity ever comes again, we’ll find a way to take advantage of both sides’ strengths,” he said.

Kamiya had also previously expressed an interest in working on Scalebound alongside Microsoft’s Phil Spencer at some point in the future.

According to Koyama, Covers “will not close off any possibilities when it comes to making games.” He spoke about how, after the studio is done with its work on Okami 2, its next project might even be a new IP.

“Basically, I don’t think that we limited the methods we use in our approach to our policy of creating interesting games,” said Koyama.

“If we were asked to make a game that uses an existing IP, and if it looked like it would be interesting to ‘Cloverize’ it in our own way, then we would do it,” said Kamiya, following up on Koyama’s statement.

“But of course, if we get a project proposal that we really want to work on, and the desire to go it grows, then we’ll do an original work too. So I think it’s appropriate to say we won’t close off any possibilities – in the end, it all comes down to whether or not we get a ‘wow’ feeling from it.”

Capping off the interview, Kamiya acknowledges the fact that some fans of classic games by Clover Studios during the early-2000s might be disappointed about more IPs from the time not returning.

“We’re only working on one thing at the moment, and it just so happens that it’s an IP I was involved with in the past, so I think it’s inevitable that that impression is strong,” said Kamiya. “The fact that we’re attracting attention because of that expectation is something we’re grateful for, but I want to reiterate that just because this is our first shot, it doesn’t mean that this is all we have to offer.”

The original Clover Studio, founded back in 2004, worked on quite a few critically-acclaimed titles with Capcom acting as its publisher. During its short run up until its closure in 2007, Clover Studio worked on the Viewtiful Joe games, as well as cult-favourite action game God Hand, alongside the seminal Okami. In its time, the studio developed and released six games across a variety of platforms, from the PS2 to the Nintendo DS.

Earlier this month, Kamiya had also expressed interest in some day returning to work on cancelled project Scalebound. Meant to be one of the tentpole releases for the Xbox One, development on Scalebound was ultimately stopped.

“Noticed some excitement around Kamiya’s desk…” posted Clovers on social media while showing a video of Kamiya excitedly watching an old trailer for Scalebound. “He was reminiscing about the development of Scalebound while watching YouTube videos. It never made it to release, but even now, he still feels proud of it.”

The Clovers account capped the post off by quoting Kamiya saying, “I’d love to make it again someday.”

A sequel to Okami was unveiled during The Game Awards 2024. The project is being headed up by Kamiya, with development being handled by new studio Clovers.

“Noticed some excitement around Kamiya’s desk…” posted the Clovers X account. “He was reminiscing about the development of Scalebound while watching YouTube videos. It never made it to release, but even now, he still feels proud of it.”

The video itself has Kamiya excitedly showing old Scalebound trailers to colleagues at Clovers and talking about its various gameplay features.

“You can shoot in different directions,” explains Kamiya in the video. “Change the situation… He’s got his on headphones and smartphones.” When a colleague compares it to an Isekai anime, he responds, “Yeah, exactly! That’s the big trend right now.”

The Clovers account caps the post off by quoting Kamiya saying, “I’d love to make it again someday.”

Scalebound was an open-world action game that was originally developed exclusively for the Xbox One during Kamiya’s time at PlatinumGames. After spending a long time in development, however, the project was ultimately cancelled, with Spencer himself confirming that development on the title had stopped back in 2020.

According to developer PlatinumGames, the project was cancelled because the studio, along with Microsoft, couldn’t get the game to work. While he didn’t go into specifics, studio head at the time, Atsushi Inaba, chalked problems up to both sides, rather than laying the blame at either party in particular.

Since then, however, Kamiya has expressed interest in returning to work on Scalebound. He spoke about it in an interview back in 2022, saying he was “totally serious” about the idea. Kamiya chalked up the desire to see the project finished to him being a creator and hearing fans saying they would have liked to play it.

Rumours in 2023 indicated that Microsoft and PlatinumGames were in talks behind closed doors about reviving Scalebound. At the time, a discussion between the two companies was described as being in the “very early” stages.

Since then, however, Kamiya has left PlatinumGames, with the studio undergoing its own shift in employees and leadership. Back in December, Kamiya was announced as having joined Clovers, and working on a new Okami game alongside Capcom.

The sequel to Okami was unveiled with a highly stylised trailer during The Game Awards 2024. While no details have been revealed about the game yet, the description for the trailer said that it would be a “new adventure”. The title will feature Amaterasu returning as its protagonist, and will be continuing the story where the original Okami left off.

Capcom has also confirmed that Okami 2 is being developed using its in-house RE Engine – the same engine that powers a wide variety of games, including Street Fighter 6, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Monster Hunter Wilds, and every Resident Evil mainline game and remake since Resident Evil 7: biohazard. Its platforms have yet to be confirmed.

In the meantime, players can check out the original Okami thanks to HD remasters available on just about every modern gaming platform out today. Even Xbox Series X/S and PS5 can play the classic game thanks to backwards compatibility with the Xbox One and PS4 versions respectively.

Let’s do it, Phil ! 😀 https://t.co/BLdBs3hxGt

— 神谷英樹🍀 Hideki Kamiya🍀 (@HidekiKamiya_X) March 3, 2025

Also, its protagonist, Amaterasu, is indeed returning. It may seem obvious in the trailer, but considering Okamiden featured her son Chibiterasu, there may have been some doubt. As for whether the 2010 Nintendo DS follow-up will be acknowledged, Hirabayashi said, “We know that there are fans out there that like the game, of course.

“And we also know the feedback on the game out there, of how the story was taken and how perhaps parts of the story weren’t aligning with what people were expecting. With that, we also have the sequel now that, as we explained before, is a continuation of the story of the original base Ōkami. That’s how we’re going to phrase it.”

This more or less confirms that the sequel will focus on Amaterasu, but Okamiden’s characters could still be referenced. Time will tell, but it will be a long wait, as the sequel is in “very, very” early development. “It might take a little bit of time before we talk again,” said Hirabayashi.

The next Okami title was revealed at The Game Awards over 18 years after the original launched on PlayStation 2. A release window and platforms have yet to be confirmed.

Producer Kiyohiko Sakata of Machine Head Works (also working on the project alongside M-Two) also revealed its role to IGN, acting as a bridge for developer Clovers. “The way that Machine Head Works is involved now, working together with Capcom and Clovers, is that, of course, we have Capcom as the major IP holder of Ōkami, deciding the major direction of the games. And we have Clovers as the development lead for this project.

“Machine Head Works comes in by having experience working with Capcom previously on several titles, so we know what Capcom needs to create the game. That’s something that Machine Head Works has the experience and knowledge of. We also have experience working with Kamiya-san before as well. So we have both experiences of Capcom and Clovers, and we’re acting sort of like a bridge between Clovers and Capcom.

“In addition to this, we also have experience working with the game engine we are using for this project, RE Engine. So, Clovers’ developers haven’t had any experience using this engine, but Machine Head Works has experience using it. So we’re aiding them. Also under us, Machine Head Works, we have people who have actually had the experience of working with the original Ōkami game and will be aiding us with the development of this title.”

Though Capcom producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi couldn’t delve into more details, he confirmed why the company opted for RE Engine. “We believe that without RE Engine at this point, we wouldn’t be able to realize [director Hideki] Kamiya-san’s artistic dreams for this project.”

Director Hideki Kamiya added, “So RE Engine is, of course, famous for showing the best of the games that they have. Very, very good expressively. And so we believe people are also expecting and awaiting the RE Engine level of quality now for this game.”

Sakata also noted, “With today’s technology, we are able to achieve all of this that we were trying to achieve back in the days and perhaps even greater, now that we have the RE Engine as well working with us.”

The results should be interesting because as well as RE Engine has worked with titles like Resident Evil 4 remake, Street Fighter 6 and Devil May Cry 5, it’s struggled with open-world games like Dragon’s Dogma 2. Even Monster Hunter Wilds had some performance and fidelity issues during its betas, though the development team showcased improvements for the final game.

As for the next Okami, it doesn’t have a release date or platforms, so stay tuned for updates.

To kick off the new year, Kamiya has published a message for fans on Clovers’ official website, where he says the announcement of Okami’s sequel and Clovers’ own unveiling last month were “merely the beginning”, and that Capcom is “determined to deliver even more exciting news to you as soon as possible.”

“Looking back, this past year was a significant one, as we announced the establishment of our studio, revealed a new project we’ve got in development, and shared the news of the next chapter in my career,” Kamiya’s message reads. “It feels good to finally be able to bring some exciting news to all of you.

“However, I want to emphasize that these announcements are merely the beginning. This is Clovers stepping up to the starting line. The true test of our value as a newly established game studio begins now. Clovers is a newborn in the games industry, and we’ll only grow and evolve from here. I hope you will keep a close eye on us and follow our journey.

“The rest of our dedicated team and I are determined to deliver even more exciting news to you as soon as possible.”

Of course, there’s not much clarity there on how long the wait until the next update on Okami 2 (or whatever the game ends up being called) is going to be. Early production on the project was about to begin as of its announcement, so clearly, we’re several years away from a release. Presumably, it’ll be a while before there are any new details.

In addition to Okami and the newly announced Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Capcom has said it also intends to revive other dormant properties. Read more on that through here.

To accompany the announcement, on Twitter, Capcom has also shared a message from Kamiya himself. The Okami, Devil May Cry, and Bayonetta creator – who left PlatinumGames in 2023 – has expressed his excitement at returning to Capcom, where he will be leading the new studio Clovers to lead development on the Okami sequel.

“I didn’t think that the day would really come, where I’d return to Okami and continue the story with my own hands,” Kamiya’s message reads. “Even at this very moment, my body is filled with a cautious surprise that this is not a dream, and a joy that cannot be described in words.

“Everyone who worked so hard to make this project a reality, the friends who believed in me and gathered at Clovers, and most importantly, the voices of so many of you who have continued to support Okami even after such a long time: all of this has come together to create this miracle, for which I am deeply grateful.

“Like a strong rising sun, this project is finally in motion. But it’s still a small bud that is blossoming. We are ready to fill this new Okami with many colourful flowers, and to do our best to fulfil the promise of ‘next time’ in the best way.”

Additionally, Capcom has also revealed on its official website that the Okami sequel will also receive external development support from M-Two (the studio behind 2020’s Resident Evil 3 remake) and Machine Head Works.

On the website, the company also says that it “will be some time” before it has more to say about the Okami sequel. At The Game Awards, it was confirmed that the game was “about to begin” production, so clearly, it’s several years away from launch.

Interestingly, Capcom has confirmed that in addition to Okami and Onimusha (which was also announced at The Game Awards), it’s also planning to revive other dormant franchises. Read more on that through here.

A message from the director of the project, Hideki Kamiya!

Find more info here:https://t.co/JgFR8F9Mnx#Okami #Okami_sequel pic.twitter.com/X8G5p2g3Qa

— Okami (@OkamiOfficial) December 13, 2024

The trailer description notes that this is a “new adventure” in a similar vein to the first game. Whether this means Orochi’s return remains to be seen. It may be a while before the title launches, with development recently kicking off under a new studio, Clovers, a resurrection of sorts for the original’s developer.

In the meantime, Okami is available for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC. The action-adventure title is inspired by Japanese mythology with gameplay akin to The Legend of Zelda. It features the Shinto goddess Amaterasu, manifesting as a white wolf, as she arrives to save the lands from darkness. Check out our review of the HD version here.