《鬼泣》创作者称女性缺乏“导演气质”引发争议

Published Oct 8, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT

Greg works as a Contributor at DualShockers, mainly focusing on news content. He hails from the rainy Scottish countryside, but now earns his keep toiling away in the best city on Earth: Tokyo, Japan. With more than 10 years of journalism experience under his belt, he always strives to provide high-quality content that readers can trust. 

Bayonetta and Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya has sparked discussion online after posting a series of tweets commenting on the lack of high-level female representation in the Japanese games industry.

The well-known game director posted numerous statements on X that touched on why Kamiya believes women are underrepresented in directorial positions, but some fans have taken issue with his position, saying his comments are dated and don’t truly explain the issues behind the lack of female directors.

Hideki Kamiya's Views On Female Game Directors

Musing on the question of why there are so few female game directors, Kamiya posted his opinions directly on X, saying that he has “the impression that there just [aren’t] many people with that ‘director temperament’ among women." He said that despite working with multiple female staff members over the years on various projects, there are only a “limited number of [director] spots to begin with”, so the chance to enter such a role is very rare.

In further posts, Kamiya explained what he meant by “director temperament”, saying it amounts to the notion of “having a strong vision”, “pushing through to realize it” and “leading other staff." He said he believes that “people with that kind of temperament are [...] not all that common, regardless of gender.”

The Bayonetta creator was responding to a fan comment on X that touched on the lack of female representation in a viral photo posted by Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai. The photo shows a meeting of some of the most famous game directors in Japan, including Kamiya, Sakurai, Yoko Taro (NieR franchise), Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil) and Fumito Ueda (Shadow of the Colossus). Also included was American game designer Toby Fox, best known for his Undertale and Deltarune titles.

The user, a foreign-born female working at a Japanese game company, said she was “a bit sad that all the members [at the meeting] are men”, but praised their contributions to gaming history. In a follow-up tweet, she added that it is “hard for women to be allowed to take the creator position because of how Japanese companies work.”

After Kamiya’s comments went public, fans had mixed feelings about them, with one Japanese user describing them as “rude” to say so casually in an online post. Another user also responded, questioning whether the Japanese games industry “allows [women] to develop these directorial skills, or if they are even given the opportunity to try.”

Some, however, agreed with Kamiya’s view, posting lamentable sexist comments that highlighted the so-called “dominance” of men and said females did not evolve to be “compatible with leading." Another described Kamiya as the “goat” (greatest of all time) for his words and praised him for posting his opinion so directly.

It’s not the first time Kamiya has landed in hot water for his behavior on social media, famously being one of X’s most combative game developers who regularly blocks fans who get on his bad side and calls his online opponents “worms". After original Bayonetta voice actress Hellena Taylor told fans she would not reprise her role in Bayonetta 3, furious gamers attacked Kamiya in droves, causing a hostile reaction and account restrictions for Kamiya for blocking so many users. He has fiercely defended Japanese game design philosophy and often triggers online debates regarding various game mechanics in modern titles.

The development is a not-so-rosy ending to the much-celebrated photo of Sakurai and his “Avengers” of game design—but not a very unexpected one, considering Kamiya’s habit of online combat. The director turned off replies to his posts shortly after sharing them, which maybe says enough.