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Bloodstained Game Creative Director Shutaro Dies at 52

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