Tencent-owned Lightspeed Studios has opened a second studio in Osaka. 

VGC reports that the company has hired former staff from Capcom – writer  Toshihiro Nakagawa, artist Daigo Ikeno and an illustrator who goes by 'Gouda Cheese' and 'Bengus'. Altogether, they have worked on hit franchises such as Devil May Cry, Dragon's Dogma, Street Fighter and Darkstalkers. 

This follows Lightspeed's first Osaka-based studio, which opened in November 2024 with Capcom veteran Hideaki Itsuno (pictured) at the helm. 

“Although we’re a new studio working on a new game, it’s good to be able to work with people who I trust like Mr. Nakagawa,” Itsuno said. 

“I have been working with him for decades, since Devil May Cry 2, and he’s one of those core members who understands me very well.

“Ikeno-san is also participating as an art director this time, and Bengus-san has a very high level of understanding and is a very unique man – he was a legendary designer at Capcom.”

He continued: “It’s all about a sense of trust… we know exactly what each of us want. And it’s not just these three people: I also hired some other people I worked with from before at Capcom, so even though this is a new studio, I’ve gathered those people who I trust to make sure that this is going to be a successful game.”

“Very few studios in Japan are taking on the challenge of building original triple-A IP from scratch. That’s exactly what we’re doing."