Castlevania director Koji Igarashi exits Konami — the latest high-profile developer to step away from long-time gig

The man that turned Castlevania games into a genre on PlayStation and Game Boy Advance is done with the series … at least as an employee of Japanese publisher Konami.

Producer Koji Igarashi, also known as “Iga,” has left Konami. He is striking out to start his own development studio that will focus on the kinds of games that his fans enjoy, according to a statement he released to the press. His departure comes 20 years after he joined the publisher. Igarashi is responsible in some way for over a dozen Castlevania games. He is best known for revitalizing the series by adding an explorable world and role-playing-style leveling to Symphony of the Night for PlayStation in 1997. Igarashi’s exit may signify a wider trend in development in Japan and the U.S. as he is just the latest to leave his long-time job with an established publisher for something new.