Platinum Games is going through a bit of a transition period right now, as they prepare to launch their most anticipated game in years in Bayonetta 3, but also shut down their unsuccessful first attempt at a live service game, Babylon’s Fall. They also plan to push further into self-publishing, and as such, have hired former Nintendo licensing, sales, and planning boss Takao Yamane as their new vice president and chief business officer. Such a key Nintendo figure making the jump to Platinum has raised some eyebrows, and in a new interview with Video Games Chronicle, Platinum CEO Atsushi Inaba admitted they’d like to build and even stronger relationship with The Big N.
“Yamane didn’t leave Nintendo on bad terms at all and this partnership that we have with Nintendo is very important to us right now and will be moving forward. I think with Yamane-san joining us here, PlatinumGames can definitely build an even stronger relationship with Nintendo moving forward. That can only be a positive thing for PlatinumGames. So yeah, we’re very glad to have him on board.”
Again, before anybody gets too carried away, Platinum still seems to be set on their plan of publishing more of their own games, but it sounds like many of them could still end up on Nintendo platforms. At very least, Switch and it successors will probably continue to be the home of franchises like Bayonetta and Astral Chain.
But what about another big console maker? Earlier this year Hideki Kamiya said he’d be up for finishing Scalebound if Microsoft was willing, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer made a coy nod to it in a later interview. That said, don’t expect much to happen right away, as Kamiya revealed he “didn’t receive a Twitter DM from Phil” and honestly wasn’t quite sure what he was on about…
“In terms of what Phil Spencer was saying, I’m not really sure where that reaction came from and what he was actually thinking… we’re not really sure, to be honest with you. But if in any way he has changed his mind in a positive way for us, then that’s something that we’re very happy about. ‘Personally,’ it’s very positive from my own viewpoint. Phil! Let’s do it together again!”
We’ll see if Scalebound ever comes to fruition, but as many have pointed out, it seems like some of that game’s mechanics have been recycled for Bayonetta 3, so there might not even be much point in bringing the project back at this point. That said, Inaba does at least hint that future Platinum multi-platform projects may come to Xbox.
Bayonetta 3 launches on Nintendo Switch on October 28.
