Clover Studio - History

History

To facilitate Viewtiful Joe 2's development, Capcom turned "Team Viewtiful" into Clover Studio, a semi-autonomous production company with a focus on developing new intellectual properties (IPs). The separation was also in part due to Resident Evil 4's PlayStation 2 release, which caused significant tensions between Capcom and Mikami, who had touted the game's console exclusivity. Clover Studio was able to produce two more games in the Viewtiful Joe series, which serve as side-stories, and commissioned an anime adaptation which was handled by Group TAC. Clover's next big project was Ōkami, a "brand-focused project" fitting with Capcom's goal for Clover to develop new IPs. Although it was a critical success, it failed to live up to Capcom's sales expectations; Clover's next project God Hand did even worse. Compounding this problem, Clover's developers still felt stifled under the weight of Capcom's corporate management, who were reluctant or actively opposed to risky new ideas. Capcom shut down Clover Studio in late 2006, following the resignations of Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya, and Shinji Mikami. They would go on to found Platinum Games with members of their old studio. In 2008, they announced the "Platinum Three", referring to MadWorld, Infinite Space, and Bayonetta, which would attempt to carry on the Capcom Five's ambitious and creative original spirit. These resignations were part of a series of high-profile departures from Capcom, including Yoshiki Okamoto in 2003 and Keiji Inafune in 2010. Inafune complained of similar problems as Inaba, Kamiya, and Mikami, namely that Capcom management had a rule dictating that at least 70-80 percent of all new projects must be sequels of existing properties, with the actual number very close to 100 percent at any time.