The new CEO of Bayonetta and NieR developer PlatinumGames, Atsushi Inaba, spoke about how they want to approach future games. He also hinted that one of the new projects could be a live-service game.
What kind of studio is it? PlatinumGames is the studio behind some of the best action games, like Bayonetta and NieR: Automata.
Recently, Atsushi Inaba, co-founder of the studio, took on the role of CEO and gave an interview to the Japanese magazine Famitsu about his promotion and the plans for the future of the studio.
In it, he made several hints that the studio might move more towards live service in the future. Here are the key points.
Such games often also have in-game shops to make such models profitable. Prominent examples include titles like Destiny, The Division, GTA: Online, and many others.
Developer of NieR and Bayonetta wants to develop “bigger and riskier” games
This is how it should continue at PlatinumGames: According to Inaba, the studio plans to apply the live-service model in future games. When asked how he wants to lead the studio now as CEO, Inaba stated that he wants to take more risks with bigger, unique titles.
He himself wishes that developers would make more games that players can “enjoy and love over a longer period of time,” unlike previous titles from the studio, such as Bayonetta or NieR.
In this context, he also mentioned “Project G. G.”, which is currently in development and has not yet been unveiled: “Oops, I almost revealed something important about where we are going,” Inaba hinted when asked about the design philosophy behind G. G.
The G.G. project is still in the testing phase, so I can’t say much about it, but when it comes to future game production, we want to focus on developing games that differ from the past. I want to focus on making games that can be enjoyed and loved over a long period of time.
Inaba also spoke about expansion plans in Tokyo and that he would like to increase the number of employees. Currently, about 300 employees work at PlatinumGames, and Inaba would like to see that number increase to over 500.
He has a very clear vision of what the studio’s games should look like:
[Former CEO Kenichi Sato] laid the foundation for the company, but I would like to return to the original ethos of PlatinumGames. If we are no longer able to create new gaming possibilities, there is no reason for us to exist, and if that happens, in my opinion, it would be better to dissolve the company, no matter how profitable it is.
So far, the studio has mainly done contract work rather than creating its own games. For example, the studio is currently working on Bayonetta 3 for Nintendo, as well as Babylon’s Fall for Square Enix.
Will Project G. G. be Platinum Games’ first game of this kind?
This is what we know so far about the project: With Project G. G., the studio is working on a completely original project for the first time, led by Japanese director Hideki Kamiya. This represents a major step for the studio:
In the past, even when we wanted to develop our own IP, it was difficult to do so, and even if we could, it was only on a very small scale… we could only produce indie-class products. In the future, I want to eliminate all of that and make bigger games from our ideas and at least succeed in one regard.
So far, not much has been revealed about the game except for the working title. An official website has published a letter from director Kamiya describing the game.
It states that Project G. G. is supposed to differ completely from previous Platinum games. The game marks the conclusion of Kamiya’s superhero trilogy, which began with Viewtiful Joe and The Wonderful 101. Otherwise, however, there is still no concrete information available.
In The Wonderful 101, players took on the role of a whole horde of superheroes to crush giant monsters. Project G. G. may go in a similar direction, although the first teaser looks significantly darker and more realistic than the anime style of the previous game.
Here you can watch the scene that shows a battle between a giant monster and a kind of giant human in a city:
The statements of the new CEO could be interpreted as a hint that Project G. G. will be the studio’s first attempt to develop “bigger, riskier” games that are supported over a longer period.
However, this does not mean that they will no longer develop games like Bayonetta in the future. They simply want to expand their range. However, how future games will specifically look, he cannot yet reveal:
The projects we are planning for the future, however, will differ in structure. Considering the changes in the market over the next five years or so, I think this is absolutely necessary. I apologize for being so vague, but I think that’s all I can tell you at the moment.
However, it seems we might expect more games with online content in the future alongside the already announced Babylon’s Fall.
What do you think? Would you like to see such games from PlatinumGames? Or should the studio stick to what it has done so well in recent years?
Whether Babylon’s Fall will be a success remains to be seen. After the presentation at E3 2021, there was certainly some criticism from players.
