• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

New interview with Atsushi Inaba (PlatinumGames) - a new project that "has never been done before", two unannounced independent IPs

Deleted member 10737

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
49,774
https://www.videogameschronicle.com...ecret-project-is-unlike-anything-done-before/


development of bayo 3
Bayonetta 3 will see a change in design process based on Platinum's experience creating the first two games, Inaba added, and the firm is midway through creating an unannounced title which he claimed "has never been done before".
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


2019 will be a big year for platinum
"2019 will be an incredibly important year for us," Inaba told VGC. "Without speaking directly to the number of titles we may or may not announce, I can say it's going to be a year of some major new approaches, new challenges and new methods for us.

"Basically, we're building a new foundation that in later years will pay dividends. For us, new challenges are going to be very important."

Inaba said Platinum's new approaches can be broken down into changes to its business model, including a move away from relying on external publisher funding, as well as an examination of how it structures game design. He claimed the latter has led to an exciting new development project.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


the new project is something that has never been done before
"Right now we're in the middle of designing something that has never been done before. I know a lot of people say that, but the game we're working on truly is unlike anything else," he said.

"Even for our varied history of veteran game developers, this is something that has never been designed before. So from a game design perspective, we're very excited right now."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


platinum wants to finally have their own IPs, starting with two unannounced project
During its first decade, Platinum's reliance on game franchises it doesn't own hasn't always left the company with a clear route forward, especially when it comes to negotiating sequels. Sega, the owner of the Bayonetta IP, eventually granted Platinum the right to make more games with Nintendo, however many of the studio's other former creations, including Vanquish and Mad World, remain dormant.

Even the upcoming Astral Chain is being created under an agreement that sees the IP remain with Nintendo and not Platinum.

Inaba has said he is determined to break the cycle with the creation of two new independent IPs owned entirely by the studio, neither of which have been announced. This will finally give the studio the freedom to choose entirely its own directions, including making sequels, he said.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


owning their own IPs will give them the freedom to work on projects and sequels that they want
"It's absolutely the truth that there are cases where you want to do a sequel but if you don't own the IP, you can't do it," Inaba explained.

"It's that simple, and quite frankly in the case of Bayonetta it took a lot of time and energy to get it to the point where sequels could be made. It wasn't as simple as picking up the phone and asking, 'hey, can we do this?' There were a lot of pieces that needed to fall into place and a lot of negotiating that had to occur.

"That's a pain. That's a hassle. For us as creators, we want to get to the point where self-publishing allows us to own our IP and do what we want with it, including making sequels. So the faster we can have that freedom, the better if will be for all the creators here."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


they will still work with big publishers and on pre-existing IPs
However, the pursuit of wholly-owned IP doesn't necessarily mean the end of collaborations, Inaba said, such as Platinum's previous work on Metal Gear Solid and Star Fox.

"Quite frankly, what it means is we have a lot of different choices in the way that we want to make games," he said.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
 
Dreamboum

Dreamboum

Member
Oct 28, 2017
22,847
It really sucks that Astral Chain is Nintendo-bound. Platinum needs to own something to flourish
 
Yunyo

Yunyo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,824
Hm... I'm most interested in the final form Bayo 3 will take and this "never been done before" project.
 
808s & Villainy

808s & Villainy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
42,700
Inaba said Platinum's new approaches can be broken down into changes to its business model, including a move away from relying on external publisher funding, as well as an examination of how it structures game design. He claimed the latter has led to an exciting new development project.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Makes sense, but I'm kind of bummed it seems to imply less Nintendo x Platinum collabs
 
Akiller

Akiller

Member
Oct 25, 2017
863
Nothing new regarding Bayo 3: they've been teasing those "big changes" for a while , even after Bayo 2 released iirc.

Another new self-owned IP in the works? Nice. Bring it on.
 
Gevurztraminer

Gevurztraminer

Member
Dec 14, 2017
1,351
I have a hunch one of those two projects is a VR thing. But they've been saying this for a while, but have not had a huge money-maker in a while allowing them to do so. Bayo 3 tied to Nintendo and Sega, Babylon tied to SE, Astral tied to Nintendo...
 
Plywood

Plywood

Does not approve of this tag
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,077
Do they even have enough resources to be splitting themselves among so many projects?
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 10737

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
49,774
silva1991

silva1991

Member
Oct 26, 2017
10,490
I just hope the new project s Kamiya's. It has been a while since his last game(2013). I don't care if it's exclusive or not.
 
Menx64

Menx64

Member
Oct 30, 2017
5,774
If they skip Nintendo with their new IPs, that would be a bad look tbh.
Anyway I would buy their games (on PC obviously).
 
-shadow-

-shadow-

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,110
Whatever they have, I'm up for it!

NOW GIVE ME THAT BAYONETTA 3 TRAILER ALREADY! :(
 
Hektor

Hektor

Community Resettler
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,884
Deutschland
Two mobile games (if those are still in development)
Bayo 3
Astral chain
Babylons fall
Two new IP's
and Granblu: relink until a few months ago

Whew, thats a lot

And it implicitly confirms that they arent working on nier 3 because how the hell would they manage that
 
HardRojo

HardRojo

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,089
Peru
Menx64 said:
If they skip Nintendo with their new IPs, that would be a bad look tbh.
Anyway I would buy their games (on PC obviously).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Why would it be a bad look? Are you going to say something like Platinum's fanbase is on Nintendo consoles? There's Astral Chain and Bayo 3 coming, Platinum fans who, for some reason, play exclusively on Switch will be eating well anyway.
 

Nuclear Muffin

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
4,721
Wonder if this means that they might be looking to turn to Kickstarter for their own self-published projects...

I get the feeling that their larger scale projects will remain as publisher backed titles though.
 

Nuclear Muffin

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
4,721
Oheao said:
Nintendo-bound means Smash bound possibly? I wonder what Platinum would have to concede to own their upcoming IPs, maybe Nier: Automata's success has given them more leverage.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Budget. That's the biggest thing they'll have to concede going forward if they want to self-publish.

Don't expect their self-published titles to have anywhere near the same scope as their previous projects. That's the sacrifice you have to make when you go it alone.
 
Rodjer

Rodjer

Self-requested ban.
Member
Jan 28, 2018
4,808
Nuclear Muffin said:
Budget. That's the biggest thing they'll have to concede going forward if they want to self-publish.

Don't expect their self-published titles to have anywhere near the same scope as their previous projects. That's the sacrifice you have to make when you go it alone.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I mean, it's not like PG games funded by publishers had a big budget to begin with lol
 
Prine

Prine

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
15,724
They getting ready for next gen the huh ?
 
Herey

Herey

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Jan 10, 2019
3,409
That's a hell of lot of projects. I know they're at varying stages of development but I was hoping that they'd go for less but more polished titles after Nier gave them some breathing room.

Got to keep the lights on I guess.
 

Nuclear Muffin

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
4,721
Rodjer said:
I mean, it's not like PG games funded by publishers had a big budget to begin with lol
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You seriously underestimate how much money got pumped into their projects. Bayonetta sold over 1 million copies and that wasn't enough for SEGA to justify the creation of Bayonetta 2.

Then TW101 and Bayo 2 each got a budget that was at least 1.5x what Bayonetta got.

Platinum Games is not a small studio; they have well over 150 staff (and that's not even getting into the huge amount of art asset outsourcing they do). They are a boutique developer and their games are absolutely AAA budget titles (as far as Japanese developers go). They cannot afford to make games of that kind of scale off the back of their own self-funding.

Expect something more along the lines of what Game Freak (a similarily sized independent Japanese studio) have self published (like Giga Wrecker) as the kind of scope to expect from Platinum Games doing self-publishing (unless they turn to Kickstarter; in which case, you might see something more along the lines of Shantae: Half Genie Hero or Yooka Laylee).
 

Deleted member 36622

User requested account closure
Banned
Dec 21, 2017
6,639
Rodjer said:
I mean, it's not like PG games funded by publishers had a big budget to begin with lol
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

?

None of PG games are low budget if that is what you're implying, they actually all look AA to AAA.

They said they needed publishers to fund these games because otherwise they would have not been released, so it's clear to me PG doesn't have the resources to self publish, maybe they could with indie-level projects.
 
TheRaidenPT

TheRaidenPT

Editor-in-Chief, Hyped Pixels
Verified
Jun 11, 2018
5,945
Lisbon, Portugal
OP
OP

Deleted member 10737

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
49,774
Prine said:
They getting ready for next gen the huh ?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
they're not the type of studio who can jump into making "next gen" games until the middle of the generation

Golnei said:
It seems that way, although there still could be a chance of one of them getting recycled into the Apple Arcade partnership game.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
oh, i forgot they were announced as having something for apple arcade. yeah i think it's more likely that one of the two already announced games will be reworked into premium non-f2p games, rather than something entirely new.

jrDev said:
Maybe the mobile games are there new IPs?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
i don't think they would have made such big deals about them if they were mobile games, at least one of them has to be a console game.
 
Rodjer

Rodjer

Self-requested ban.
Member
Jan 28, 2018
4,808
Nuclear Muffin said:
You seriously underestimate how much money got pumped into their projects. Bayonetta sold over 1 million copies and that wasn't enough for SEGA to justify the creation of Bayonetta 2.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Bayonetta sold 1 million copies after 2 years of release, no shit it was not enough for SEGA to greenlit Bayonetta 2.
 
wrowa

wrowa

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,372
Dreamboum said:
I'm not disputing that, I'm saying Inaba has been wanting to create independent IPs for years and it's sad to see it's still not there yet.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Not really. They aren't in a position to entirely sustain themselves without contract work and they'll never be, either. That's not sad, but simply the reality of the market they operate in for an independent studio of their size (and level of success). Contract work will likely always be the foundation of the studio, but if they are able to get enough money out of it to fund independent projects that's great progress - and that seems to be where they are currently.

I wouldn't expect their own IPs to be on the scale of their more major projects, though. More something along the lines of the projects they worked on for Activision.
 
Becks'

Becks'

Member
Dec 7, 2017
7,428
Canada
How the hell they do not go broke after investing a lot? I know that Nintendo and Square helped them with Nier and Bayonetta but they have like 5 projects.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.