A bit of a controversial topic that pops up from time to time, but I think with recent news it warrants discussing again.
Nintendo just revealed Astral Chain, a new game for Switch created by Platinum Games which Nintendo co-owns the IP with (exact same as The Wonderful 101). And it's already due in a few months on August 30th worldwide I think. Bayonetta 3 for Switch is also still in development, reconfirmed right after the Astral Chain trailer in the Direct. We also just got ports of Bayonetta 1 and 2 about a year ago on Switch.
Platinum's had some rough spots over the past bit, some larger than others. Most significant is of course the cancellation of Scalebound which was being developed with Microsoft. Most recently their involvement came seemingly to an abrupt end with Granblue Fantasy Re:link. Some say it was a natural end of the contract, others seem to point out how odd the whole thing was presented, what with Platinum's name just being wiped from the game (going by the website) and everything, plus this was announced, and why would it if the contract was just casually finished? Plus I've folks here bring up that their mobile game World of Demons has been a no-show as well. Finally, I recall reading that the next Nier game is being made in-house at Square-Enix (is this correct?). A lot is my observation and from reading comments other than the Scalebound stuff, so feel free to correct me on any of the points I made. I may very well be mis-remembering bits, I deeply apologize if so.
Back to Nintendo. Nintendo literally saved Bayonetta 2 from outright cancellation. They as mentioned also worked with Platinum on The Wonderful 101 on Wii U, and also worked with Platinum Games on Star Fox Zero. So they've been quite close over the last near 7 years, with The Wonderful 101 being their first collab known back at E3 2012.
My argument is this; Platinum to me isn't exactly in a stable condition in terms of guarantee projects and the like without something happening. Everything they've done with Nintendo has come out without hitches (Star Fox Zero was more Nintendo's fault if anything). And as we've seen with Monolith Soft, Nintendo can legit take a 3rd-party developer to new heights. I vividly remember folks being on the floor laughing when it was announced that Nintendo had bought Monolith Soft from Bandai Namco, saying that Nintendo got ripped off. I think the results since speak for themselves. :P
As far as I'm aware, Platinum's only other game in the works is Babylon's Fall with Square-Enix again, also set for this year. Will that come out fine and on schedule? It's likely, but would it not have been shown more by now? Seemingly it's been absent since E3 2018. It'll likely be shown at E3 2019 and released by the end of year, typical stuff, so I wouldn't worry about it. PlaystationLifeStyle says that SE told 4Gamer that they hope to show more soon, so there's that.
But yeah, that's basically it. Would you want Nintendo to buy Platinum Games if they basically got the exact same treatment as Monolith Soft and kept their great streak of games, and maybe even expand to include a support team as well (like Monolith Soft Kyoto)? Trust me, I know folks on non-Nintendo consoles won't like the idea, but this is all speculative and I'm interested in discussing the idea and what potential it could have if something like this ever happened.
Again if I got any points wrong, let me know and I apologize if so. I hope I've provided a well-worded argument about why I personally think Nintendo should buy Platinum Games.
Nintendo just revealed Astral Chain, a new game for Switch created by Platinum Games which Nintendo co-owns the IP with (exact same as The Wonderful 101). And it's already due in a few months on August 30th worldwide I think. Bayonetta 3 for Switch is also still in development, reconfirmed right after the Astral Chain trailer in the Direct. We also just got ports of Bayonetta 1 and 2 about a year ago on Switch.
Platinum's had some rough spots over the past bit, some larger than others. Most significant is of course the cancellation of Scalebound which was being developed with Microsoft. Most recently their involvement came seemingly to an abrupt end with Granblue Fantasy Re:link. Some say it was a natural end of the contract, others seem to point out how odd the whole thing was presented, what with Platinum's name just being wiped from the game (going by the website) and everything, plus this was announced, and why would it if the contract was just casually finished? Plus I've folks here bring up that their mobile game World of Demons has been a no-show as well. Finally, I recall reading that the next Nier game is being made in-house at Square-Enix (is this correct?). A lot is my observation and from reading comments other than the Scalebound stuff, so feel free to correct me on any of the points I made. I may very well be mis-remembering bits, I deeply apologize if so.
Back to Nintendo. Nintendo literally saved Bayonetta 2 from outright cancellation. They as mentioned also worked with Platinum on The Wonderful 101 on Wii U, and also worked with Platinum Games on Star Fox Zero. So they've been quite close over the last near 7 years, with The Wonderful 101 being their first collab known back at E3 2012.
My argument is this; Platinum to me isn't exactly in a stable condition in terms of guarantee projects and the like without something happening. Everything they've done with Nintendo has come out without hitches (Star Fox Zero was more Nintendo's fault if anything). And as we've seen with Monolith Soft, Nintendo can legit take a 3rd-party developer to new heights. I vividly remember folks being on the floor laughing when it was announced that Nintendo had bought Monolith Soft from Bandai Namco, saying that Nintendo got ripped off. I think the results since speak for themselves. :P
As far as I'm aware, Platinum's only other game in the works is Babylon's Fall with Square-Enix again, also set for this year. Will that come out fine and on schedule? It's likely, but would it not have been shown more by now? Seemingly it's been absent since E3 2018. It'll likely be shown at E3 2019 and released by the end of year, typical stuff, so I wouldn't worry about it. PlaystationLifeStyle says that SE told 4Gamer that they hope to show more soon, so there's that.
But yeah, that's basically it. Would you want Nintendo to buy Platinum Games if they basically got the exact same treatment as Monolith Soft and kept their great streak of games, and maybe even expand to include a support team as well (like Monolith Soft Kyoto)? Trust me, I know folks on non-Nintendo consoles won't like the idea, but this is all speculative and I'm interested in discussing the idea and what potential it could have if something like this ever happened.
Again if I got any points wrong, let me know and I apologize if so. I hope I've provided a well-worded argument about why I personally think Nintendo should buy Platinum Games.
