Takahashi walks out on Namco Bandai

Katamari Damacy maestro Keita Takahashi has walked out on his publishing partner Namco Bandai, the company has confirmed to play.tm.

Takahashi – a widely revered game designer routinely praised for not buying into the big business that drives the industry – may now be departing from game design for good.

“I’m actually not thinking about a future in games. It’s not that I’m not interested in them, but I want to try lots of different things," he said in an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine.

In another recent interview, his relationship with Namco Bandai was suggested to be less than harmonious.

Speaking to The Setup he said: “I make videogames for the so-so company Namco Bandai Games Inc. I am so inefficient I only made four games in 11 years.”

Takahashi was last year commissioned the job of designing a child’s playground in Nottingham.

In a recent interview with Develop, the Japan-born game designer revealed: “One day I would like to partner with a developer in the west and create a game with them.”