Street Fighter producer founds new independent developer

Noritaka Funamizu, best known for working as producer on the seminal Street Fighter II, has left his role as boss of Capcom's Research and Development Division 1 unit to found a new independent development studio.

Called Craft and Meister, the new company is currently recruiting its core team - it has only six employees at present - and has not yet announced any development plans.

Funamizu, who most recently worked as producer on online title Monster Hunter and also worked on titles such as Resident Evil Outbreak, has co-founded the new studio with another Capcom producer, Katsuhiro Sudo, who worked on Auto Modellista.

Craft and Meister isn't the first studio to be formed by high-profile Capcom figures - Yoshiki Okamoto, a Capcom director who was also involved in the Street Fighter and Resident Evil franchises, left the company to found independent studio Game Republic last year.

And earlier this year, the firm announced that it was creating a wholly owned development subsidiary, Clover Studio, which would be partially independent from the main publishing unit and would house much of the company's key development and production talent. That studio is currently working on updates to the Viewtiful Joe franchise along with the uniquely styled original title Okami.