Exclusive: Did Okami 2 Nearly Happen? (Patreon)

This week I've been following the trail of a rumour that comes as another twist of the knife for PlatinumGames fans like myself - especially after the recent cancellation of Scalebound. We have yet to receive official confirmation of this, but rumour has it that a direct sequel to Okami almost happened. This comes to us from the same sources that allowed me to break the news about Scalebound's cancellation last month.

The original Okami was released originally in 2006; the brainchild of famed Japanese director Hideki Kamiya. We've since seen Okamiden - a spin-off for the DS, but never a full scale sequel for home platforms. According to sources related to Capcom, that dream almost became a reality in 2016.

If these rumours are to be believed, Tatsuya Minami, the president of PlatinumGames, was in talks with the management of Capcom in early 2016 to make the sequel happen. Minami built a reputation as the man responsible for negotiating some huge deals during his time there - including their close partnership with Nintendo, which he built through befriending producer Hitoshi Yamagami. He had also been fortunate enough to maintain a friendly relationship with Capcom.

After much back and forth, Capcom had finally agreed to give them access to the IP. A PlatinumGames made follow-up to Okami was finally on the verge of happening, apparently, until Minami found his position at the company jeopardised. His relationship with the rest of the company had began to sour, as arguments between him and the development staff over their ongoing projects were becoming more common. The specifics of these disagreements aren't yet known, but given the strife we've heard about from developers who worked on Scalebound, it's safe to say that some internal difficulties were faced by Platinum throughout 2016.

The shortlived Okami 2 talks fizzled out between Capcom and Platinum in April 2016 when Tatsuya Minami abruptly stepped down from his position as president. Learning of these tensions at Platinum, Capcom's management was discouraged and chose not to pursue the project further.

Will Okami 2 ever happen? These rumours, if true, show that Capcom is, at the very least, open to the idea. An Okami game by Platinum doesn't seem like it will be happening any time soon (if at all), but Capcom's rumoured pursuit of a sequel is a very small silverlining for us to take away from this story.

- Liam