Bayonetta 4 has been casually announced in a tweet from PlatinumGames senior vice president and chief game designer Hideki Kamiya while discussing the previous game with fans.

As reported by Eurogamer, Kamiya admitted that Bayonetta 3’s ending may have been unexpected for some fans, but said that Bayonetta 4’s story will follow on from that point.

“I didn’t think it was unexpected at all, but it seems that the ending of Bayo 3 wasn’t conveyed correctly to everyone,” Kamiya said in the tweet translated by Eurogamer, “so I think Bayo 4 will be an unexpected development. After all, when Bayo 4 comes out, I’m sure there will be people who say, ‘You added that as an afterthought’, so I’ll say it now.”

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Bayonetta 4’s development has therefore been confirmed, at least as far as Kamiya is concerned, though it will likely be some time before an official announcement is made given that Bayonetta 3 was only released on October 28.

Though it was generally well received, the game’s ending proved controversial amongst fans of the series, though we won’t go in to why here because, well, spoilers.

Bayonetta 3 was released on the Nintendo Switch amidst a controversy surrounding the payment of actress Helena Taylor, who voiced the titular character in the first two games and was replaced in the role by Mass Effect’s Jennifer Hale for the third.

IGN awarded the game a 9/10, making it one of our best reviewed games of 2022 to date. We said it was an invigorated sequel with fresh new ideas that embolden the series’ 13-year-old combat system, hindered somewhat by a weak story and a sometimes faltering performance on the Switch.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer.