Share. "I had ideas for Dragon’s Dogma 2 at the time." "I had ideas for Dragon’s Dogma 2 at the time."

Devil May Cry 5 director Hidetaki Itsuno says that he considered making Dragon’s Dogma 2, but ultimately decided to pursue Devil May Cry 5 instead.

In an interview with VG24/7 (via a translator), Itsuno said "So, when the discussion came up for Devil May Cry 5, I went to Kenzo [Capcom founder Kenzo Tsujimoto] and I said… look, I want to make either Devil May Cry 5 or Dragon’s Dogma 2 next. He said ‘okay, do whatever you want. Do whichever one you want.’ So I thought, alright, y’know what… let’s do DMC5. So we did that.”

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“Here we are – we’re now finishing up DMC5,” continued Itsuno. "But I had ideas for Dragon’s Dogma 2 at the time as well... I’ve always got maybe around four different titles in mind, maybe about four different ideas that I’d love to make. But there’s a difference between the titles that I’d love to make and the titles that I think I should make next. But here we are, we’re here, and… I’m already gearing up for my next project. We can’t say what it is, but we’re looking forward to getting to work on it.”

Itsuno, who co-directed 2012’s Dragon Dogma, claims he’s most proud of that game, saying "Dragon’s Dogma is one of those things where ever since I was a kid this is the kind of experience I wanted from a game. I think about that and then I work towards creating that experience. The one that was kind of the biggest success in my mind, the one I’m most proud of – that’s probably Dragon’s Dogma. The one that was the hardest to work on, that took the most effort – that’s this one. That’s DMC5.”

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While many fans have been eagerly awaiting a sequel to Dragon’s Dogma, it’s been over a decade since Devil May Cry 4 was released in 2008.

Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen, the expanded version of the 2012 original, is set to be released on Nintendo Switch on April 23, 2019. In our review of Dark Arisen in 2013, we called the game “Good” saying "Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen's new enemies fight dirty, but this expansion's a challenge worthy of Dark Souls fans."

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For more on Devil May Cry 5, check out our hands-on preview of the game, and why we’re obsessed with one of its new character’s sandals. Devil May Cry 5 is coming to PC, Xbox One and PS4 on March 8, 2019.

Colin Stevens is a news writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.