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Japanese video game designer

Yoshiki Okamoto (岡本 吉起), sometimes credited as Kihaji Okamoto, is a Japanese video game designer. He is credited with producing popular titles for Konami, including Gyruss and Time Pilot, and for Capcom, including 1942, Gun. Smoke, Final Fight and Street Fighter II. He later founded the companies Flagship and Game Republic, and then created the hit mobile games Dragon Hunter and Monster Strike for Mixi. He also played a role in the creation of Rockstar's Red Dead franchise. Several franchises he helped create are among the highest grossing video game franchises of all time, including Street Fighter II, Monster Strike and Red Dead.

His early games Time Pilot (1982) and Gyruss (1983) innovated in the shoot 'em up genre during the golden age of arcade games. The Killer List of Videogames included both Gyruss and Time Pilot in its list of top 100 arcade games of all time. Although these games turned out to be successful titles for Konami, Okamoto's employer was not happy as apparently Okamoto had been told to create a driving game instead. Internal disagreements, financial and credible, caused his termination from Konami.

Joining Capcom in 1984, Okamoto directed several arcade games such as 1942 (1984), SonSon (1984), and Side Arms (1986). His 1985 shoot 'em up Gun. Smoke later inspired a spiritual successor, Red Dead Revolver, the first installment of the Red Dead series. The last game he directed was the 1989 CP System game Willow (1989). He would oversee the development of Capcoms subsequent games as a producer and was responsible for recruiting character designer Akira Yasuda for Capcom. Okamoto and Yasuda developed some of Capcom's biggest hits, most notably the beat 'em up game Final Fight (1989) and fighting game Street Fighter II (1991). Street Fighter II is estimated to have grossed $10.61 billion as of 2017, making it the third highest grossing video game of all time, after Space Invaders and Pac Man. Okamoto worked on the 1996 survival horror game Resident Evil (Biohazard in Japan). Additionally, he produced the movie adaptation and its sequel. In 1997, he resigned from Capcom to start his own video game development company, Flagship. He continued to develop video games for Capcom through Flagship. Okamoto approached Angel Studios with the idea for an original intellectual property entitled S. W. A. T. It later adopted a Western theme at Okamoto's recommendation, redefining the acronym as "Spaghetti Western Action Team". It was intended to be a spiritual successor to Gun. Smoke. Okamoto then left Capcom, Rockstar Games acquired the rights to Red Dead Revolver in December 2003 and resumed development, releasing it for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in May 2004. In 2011, Game Republic also shut down due to debt, and a year later, Okamoto announced that he had retired from making console games and started working on mobile games.

In recent years, he created the mobile games Dragon Hunter and Monster Strike (2013) for Mixi. Dragon Hunter was a moderate success, before Monster Strike became a major hit, competing with Puzzle & Dragons for the top spot on mobile charts. By 2018, Monster Strike had grossed over $7.2 billion, surpassing Puzzle & Dragons to become the highest grossing mobile app of all time.

Okamoto became the chairman of the Japan Game Culture Foundation in November 2017, an organization which seeks to support young game creators. In 2018 he made the Malaysian game development company Okakichi. In November 2022 he was appointed as "game advisor" for the Whole Earth Foundation, a Japanese organization seeking to raise infrastructure maintenance awareness through a cryptocurrency smartphone game. Since 2020 he has also made three YouTube channels which he uses to discuss various topics. His "YoshikiOkamotoGameCh" channel in particular looks back at his life as a video game designer for over 40 years, discussing experiences with past games he was involved in, his opinion on other games, and interviews with individuals related to game development. He also used this channel to announce his planned retirement in June 2027.

Okamoto has said that he gets ideas from scenery from movies, citing particularly the works of Akira Kurosawa and Chinese ghost stories. He commented that "We don't make games for ourselves I don't actually play games very much."

Year Game Role1982Time PilotGame designer1983Gyruss19841942SonSon1985Exed Exes1986Hyper Dyne Side Arms19871943: The Battle of MidwayProducerBlack Tiger1989Destiny of an EmperorGame designerWillowDirectorU. N. SquadronBuster Bros.19901941: Counter AttackMega TwinsMagic SwordGame designerNemoDirector1991Three WondersProducer1992Varth: Operation Thunderstorm1994Eco FightersArmored WarriorsDirector1995Night Warriors: Darkstalkers' RevengeProducer1996Star GladiatorGeneral producerMega Man 8Executive producer1997Street Fighter III: New GenerationGeneral producer Battle CircuitMega Man: Battle & ChaseExecutive producerMega Man X4Super Gem Fighter Mini MixBreath of Fire IIIStreet Fighter III: 2nd ImpactGeneral producer1998Resident Evil 2SupervisorMarvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super HeroesExecutive producerPlasma Sword: Nightmare of BilsteinMega Man & Bass1999Trick'N SnowboarderPower StoneDino CrisisSupervisorThe Misadventures of Tron BonneExecutive producerResident Evil 3: NemesisSupervisorStrider 2General producer2000Resident Evil Code: VeronicaSupervisorMarvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of HeroesExecutive producerBreath of Fire IVCapcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000Mega Man X52001The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of AgesGeneral producerOne Piece MansionExecutive producerMega Man X6Maximo: Ghosts to GloryAdvisor2002Auto ModellistaExecutive producerBreath of Fire: Dragon QuarterSupervisor2003Devil May Cry 2Executive producer Chaos LegionGroup S Challenge2005Genji: Dawn of the SamuraiExecutive director2006Monster Kingdom: Jewel SummonerProducerBrave Story: New TravelerExecutive directorGenji: Days of the Blade2007Folklore2008Dragon Ball: OriginsExecutive producer2010Dragon Ball: Origins 2Clash of the TitansExecutive directorMajin and the Forsaken Kingdom2011Knights Contract2013Monster StrikeGame designer