10 years ago today, the originalBayonettawas released in Japan by PlatinumGames and SEGA. It became a benchmark release for not only PlatinumGames' titles but the action genre as a whole. While we are still waiting to hear 3,which was announced in 2017, PlatinumGames is still celebrating this notable anniversary with the special artwork you can see above, a social media submission campaign, and athank you messagefrom Director Hideki Kamiya.

This new artwork was created by Mari Shimazaki, the character designer for theBayonettaseries, and it does a great job of celebrating the characters and their designs from both games in theBayonettaseries. Meanwhile, PlatinumGames is holding a contest on Twitter where they are encouraging fans to post something Bayonetta-related with the hashtag #Bayonetta10th. The contest runs until November 19, which is when the developer will select the winners. PlatinumGames goes into more details about the contest rules and prizeson its official website.

Though that contest may be the most exciting thing around this anniversary, Hideki Kamiya’s statement is sweet and shows just how much he and PlatinumGames love theBayonettaseries. “Sincerest thanks to all of you who’ve supported Bayonetta over the last ten years. Today is a momentous occasion for me, and it’s all because of your tremendous love,” the message begins. “Bayonetta was my very first title here at PlatinumGames, and I went into it with a lofty goal – to make the best action game I possibly could. I poured my all into the game with that feeling firmly in mind. Now, ten years later, as I look back on those development days, I see peaks and valleys, good times and bad. But our staff pulled together through it all and, working as one, I think we managed to pull off something truly miraculous.”

He ends his message by thanking everyone who has ever supported the series before reaffirming that the series won’t be ending anytime soon. “To everyone who’s been involved with theBayonettaseries, and to all of theBayonettafans who’ve helped us get here: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you’ll follow Bayonetta’s adventures, and continue to love and support her for years to come.”

The originalBayonettacan be played on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS3, Wii U, and Xbox 360 while Bayonetta 2 can be played on just Wii U and Nintendo Switch as it is published by Nintendo. If you want to try out both games,their Switch versions can be picked up together on Amazon.