In a heart-wrenching move to many, Clover Studios was shuttered late last year. Fronted by Atsushi Inaba, the studio brought us titles like Okami and GODHAND. We had heard rumblings that Inaba had created another Osaka-based studio. What's more, it apparently had big financial backing.

The website for Inaba's new company SEEDS has gone live. SEEDS was founded way back in August 2006, which was a couple months before Capcom closed Clover. As of January, the new outfit was 51 employees strong. The company's message page boasts a powerhouse staff with the likes of producer Atsushi Inaba, Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami and Devil May Cry/Viewtiful Joe creator Hideki Kamiya.

The company seems to still be in the recruiting phase and sets forth this company philosophy of creating new entertainment for people living in a new world and looking towards the future of gaming (hence, the company name "SEEDS"). States it's always considering "worldwide," because it wants more more to play its games. In the company's site there does seem to be a largely international focus and concentration on the "play" aspect of gaming. If past Clover and Capcom titles are anything to go by, whatever SEEDS does output should be anything but run-of-the-mill. Looking forward to it. Brian Ashcraft

New Clover Studio [SEEDS via NeoGAF]

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Kotaku Pointing Fish says that former Clover honcho and Okami producer Atsushi Inaba is hard at work in his new studio, which is located in the Umeda area of Osaka. The up-start has even hooked up with a company that is, and the Kotaku Pointing Fish quotes, "flushed with cash." Hmm, flushed with cash? Okay, guess away! And keep in mind that Inaba's co-hort Shinji Mikami had a fit with Resident Evil appeared on the PlayStation 2. Brian Ashcraft

Sick of hearing about how Capcom smothered Clover Studios with a giant throw pillow and left the arty studio for dead in a dumpster out by the airport? Me neither! Gamasutra's Brandon Sheffield has an insightful interview with Atsushi Inaba from way back at TGS, way back when there was still a Clover Studios. While the word has always been that Clover was a word play on "creativity lover," Inaba points out:

Well we thought pretty hard about it, and it comes from Mikami's name and mine. It takes the 'mi' from his name, meaning three, and the 'ba' from my name, meaning leaf. Put those together and it's 'three leaves,' so even though the logo is a four-leaf clover, the idea actually comes from what plant would have three leaves.

An unlucky clover at that. Brian Ashcraft

Interview with Inaba [Gamasutra]

Former Sega marketer and current Capcom VP, Charles Bellfield pulls no punches in a recent GameDaily interview. With Clover Studios (God Hand, Okami) recent closing, Bellfield talks about what that means for Capcom and what exactly the subsidiary was. He points out that it was "physically a floor in our sixteen-story R&D building in Osaka in Japan. It was identical to the other fifteen floors that were in the same building..." Moreover, the majority of the team has been transitioning from Clover to Capcom for months. Continuing, Bellfield adds:

Does it change the type of content we develop? Not in the slightest chance. Does it change the company at all? Nope. Have a couple of individuals left? Yes... Mikami-san (Resident Evil creator) is still a contracted producer at Capcom, so he's very much part of the team, part of the family just as other producers are... Both Inaba-san (Viewtiful Joe producer) and Kamiya-san have left the company.

He adds that that And Bellfield not only attempts to clarify the Clover situation, but kicks sand in Sega's face for bonus points! When asked for comparisons between his current employer and his previous one, Bellfield dishes:

Capcom's not going to do anything that will cheapen itself in the eyes of the gamer, and we'll only do things to add credibility to who we are as a company. We are not in the market to cheapen ourselves or deliver below par content to our consumers.

This Bellfield guy is a regular barrel of monkeys! Brian Ashcraft

Chatty Charles [GameDaily]

Capcom has supplied game site Next Generation with a Q&A which hopefully clear up some of the confusion (and heartbreak) regarding Clover Studio's shuttering. Capcom states that the subsidiary was liquidated because it would be better to have all the R&D resources in a single company. The fifteen staff members still working in Clover Studio will be transfered to Capcom R&D. Moreover, all the Clover copyrights will revert to Capcom.

Okay. But, what about Clover game designer Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil creator)? And Okami producer Atsushi Inaba? Here's an excerpt from the Capcom questionnaire:

Q: We've heard that the famous creators such as [Resident Evil creator] Mr. [Shinji] Mikami, [Okami producer] Mr. [Atsushi] Inaba and [Devil May Cry director] Mr. [Hideki] Kamiya have quit, is this true? Why didn't they come back to Capcom?

A: Mr. Mikami had already left Capcom in November 2005 but signed on a separate contract with us. Mr. Inaba and Mr. Kamiya have also left Capcom in June and July of this year respectively. Naturally, we had hoped that Mr. Inaba and Mr. Kamiya to come back to us, however, both of them told us that they wanted a new challenge at a new environment. As far as Capcom's concerned, now all the resources should be used more effectively and more efficiently since they are centralized.

Q: Can you tell us more about Mr. Inaba and Mr. Kamiya? We've heard that they are setting up a new company.

A: Since they are not our employees any longer, we can't answer this question.

Q: Don't you think of Mr. Mikami's departure as a huge loss? Who's going to produce Resident Evil series from now on?

A: We have a signed contract with Mr. Mikami separately. In any case, we have many creators that have worked on Resident Evil series titles and have enough knowledge of the series. Mr. Mikami will also work in our R&D. By the way, Mr. Takeuchi is producing Resident Evil 5 (he's worked on the original Resident Evil).

So, if the Clover game rights and the Clover Studio employees are reverting to Capcom, that means that it's just Inaba and Mikami who are severing relations with Capcom. Right? Brian Ashcraft

Capcom Q&A [Next-Gen]

As of today, the studio behind Viewtiful Joe, Okami and God Hand is no more. Clover Studio was shuttered by main shareholder Capcom. At a Board of Directors' meeting was held, and it was decided that Clover should dissolved. The reason? According to the Capcom IR release:

Clover Studio Co., Ltd. has met the goal of developing unique and creative original home video game software, however, in view of promoting a business strategy that concentrates management resources on a selected business to enhance the efficiency of the development power of the entire Capcom group, the dissolution of Clover Studio Co., Ltd. has been raised and passed at a Board of Directors' meeting.

The studio was established on July 1, 2004 and takes its name, "clover," from an abbreviation of "creativity lover." Under president and CEO Atsushi Inaba and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, the studio turned out a handful of inventive titles that were anything but mainstream. Sales, unfortunately, reflected that, and Capcom management took action. It's okay to love creativity, just don't expect it to turn a profit. Clover Studio will be officially liquidated March 2007. Brian Ashcraft

Read The Depressing Release [Capcom, Thanks Torokun!]