Shutaro died on February 10 due to pancreatic cancer
Image via
ArtPlay’s English X/Twitter account
© ArtPlay
ArtPlay co-founder
Koji Igarashi
announced on Monday that the company’s creative director SHUTARO (Shutaro Iida) died on February 10 after fighting cancer for almost a year and a half. He was 52.
SHUTARO’s family
posted
the announcement of his death on his X (formerly
Twitter
) account, where they disclosed that he died due to pancreatic cancer. A private funeral with close family members was held in accordance with the family’s wishes.
In Igarashi’s statement, he stated that the development of the
Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement
game
, which SHUTARO was leading, is now at its final stages. He added that they will strive to complete the game worthy of his vision and name.
ArtPlay and 505 Games
announced
Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement
, a new game in the
Bloodstained
franchise
, in June 2025.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night,
for which SHUTARO served as the director, launched for the
PlayStation
4, Windows,
Nintendo
Switch, and Xbox One in June 2019.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
launched for the
Nintendo
3DS,
Nintendo
Switch, PS4,
PlayStation
Vita, and Windows in May 2018, and for Xbox One in June 2018.
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2
launched for PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and PC via
Steam
in July 2020.
Prior to his work at ArtPlay, SHUTARO worked on many
Castlevania
game titles at
Konami
with Igarashi, starting from
Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
. He worked at
Konami
from 1996 to 2015 and also worked on such games as
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
and
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
.
Sources: ArtPlay’s
website
and English X/
Twitter
account
, SHUTARO’s X/
Twitter
account
via
Gematsu
,
@mariosantos.bsky.social
