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Platinum’s new CEO wants to create ‘larger, riskier’ games and hints at live service focus

mazi

mazi

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Platinum’s new CEO wants to create ‘larger, riskier’ games and hints at live service focus | VGC

Plus Inaba appears to suggest that Project GG could be a live service type game…
www.videogameschronicle.com www.videogameschronicle.com
Company co-founder Atsushi Inaba, who recently took over as president and CEO, discussed his promotion in a recent interview with Famitsu (translated by VGC) along with his aspirations for the Bayonetta developer’s future.

In the interview, Inaba appeared to suggest a larger focus on live service games. He said he would like the company to create more games that “can be enjoyed and loved for a longer period of time”, compared to “one-off, well-designed” titles such as Bayonetta.
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It's pretty difficult to maintain a development studio with a couple hundred employees and no own IP, who is completely reliant on external publishers to finance their operations. They have to evolve along with the market in order to stay in business, otherwise they'll be the first ones without cash left. Considering their history, I don't think they're happy about this move, but they don't have much of a choice. I think it's pretty clear that they won't get bought by a platformholder (Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Tencent) who is interested in prestige games to broaden their library, because I would've happened a long time ago if any of those were interested, I believe. And since PlatinumGames has no significant own IP, you'd basically buy a workforce, which isn't that valuable.

So tl;dr: I believe they don't have any choice.
 
I think of most of the unacquired developers out there Platinum is the one most likely to be purchased by Nintendo.

You already have Bayonetta and Astral Chain and Wonderful 101. They have become a solid Nintendo collaborator.
 
Not surprising. Modern development is very expensive and they are too big to go indie route and have no IPs. So either that or being acquired by somebody. Tencent is written all over them.
 
randomengine said:
I think of most of the unacquired developers out there Platinum is the one most likely to be purchased by Nintendo.

You already have Bayonetta and Astral Chain and Wonderful 101. They have become a solid Nintendo collaborator.
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Bayonetta is tied to SEGA and W101 isn't worth anything. Nintendo already bought the AC rights and it'd be cheaper to just poach that team than take on the whole company.
 
i don't see nintendo buying them at all, specially with the direction they're headed. i don't really know who would be interested in buying them, except companies like tencent or netease who are just mass buying devs.
 
mazi said:
i don't see nintendo buying them at all, specially with the direction they're headed. i don't really know who would be interested in buying them, except companies like tencent or netease who are just mass buying devs.
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Tencent already invested but it was so Platinum could remain independent.
 
Live service/GAAS is essentially money in the bank for years if it pops off. Everyone wants one, he's just openly admitting that they're going for it.
 
Himura Kenshin said:
Live service/GAAS is essentially money in the bank for years if it pops off. Everyone wants one, he's just openly admitting that they're going for it.
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true, it's just such a shot in the dark. out of 50 games that try, one blows up and is able to maintain an audience for years. and then it requires a massive team to keep adding content to it. if platinum's recent moves are any indication, i don't really see them succeeding but it's gonna be interesting to watch what they do once bayo 3/babylon's fall are out.
 
It’s not looking good for Platinum.

Other than Bayo 3, what else are they actively working on? I assume it’s all still essentially contract work where they do not own the IP?
 
I'm honestly just thinking (and hoping) this is a bit of a mistranslation and misunderstanding so far.
I get them wanting to change their strategy regarding new IPs (small ones won't do it) and them gaining new experiences (Babylon's Fall will be a failure but a good lesson on online/GaaS/scope...), but I doubt they'll suddenly want to make all their games like that.

Worst case scenario, this will kill them, and after all the failures they had, I'm sure they've thought about it.
 
Platinum will not allow themselves to be bought; they desperately want to maintain their independence. That’s the whole reason why the company was founded in the first place, they broke away from Capcom to go it alone; and becoming an independent publisher that owns its own IP was always their end-goal.

So this is likely their only viable option if they want to stay solvent. Quite frankly, it’s an absolute miracle that they’ve even survived as long as they have; with constant high profile HD game flops since they started. If they didn’t get lucky with Nintendo and S-E bankrolling their projects, they would definitely be dead by now.

There is only so long you can go without a big mainstream success to your name if you want to stay independent.

Nintendo will likely continue to work with them and bankroll their “prestige” single player focused projects; but otherwise, the days of Platinum Games pumping out traditional AAA games is likely over. This is the price of independence and the price of accepting Tencent money.
 
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mazi said:
true, it's just such a shot in the dark. out of 50 games that try, one blows up and is able to maintain an audience for years. and then it requires a massive team to keep adding content to it. if platinum's recent moves are any indication, i don't really see them succeeding but it's gonna be interesting to watch what they do once bayo 3/babylon's fall are out.
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Oh absolutely, it's absolutely needle in a haystack where even a massive IP like the Avengers doesn't guarantee success. I don't think it's out of thin air for them though, I think - for better or for worse - their time working on Granblue Fantasy: Relink whet their appetite and we're seeing the fruits of that with this statement.

Whether Relink is gacha or not seems to be unclear (some are saying not), however Granblue itself certainly is, so that's my line of thinking anyway.
 
DarkDetective said:
It's pretty difficult to maintain a development studio with a couple hundred employees and no own IP, who is completely reliant on external publishers to finance their operations.
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You described TOSE. Platinum can be fine with the right contracts, the risk of going bankrupt by moving instantly at high budget games for a developer with zero publishing experience and zero recognisable IPs is way bigger.
 
Only way Nintendo would buy them is if Platinum asks them to. If it's open bidding, then Tencent is more likely to grab them instead. I just hope Platinum can work things out because they really are lacking in direction right now. If a few live-service games can save them, then that's better than nothing. However, would still want them to continue their collaboration with Nintendo to produce great IPs and sequels.
 
Their independence at all costs, indeed. People have been hoping and praying they stay independent for quite some time now and I’ve been watching the finger on the monkey’s paw slowly curl downward. I half-expect they’ll resort to aggressively-monetized F2P games next (which is a bullet they dodged with World of Demons once before).
 
Chris1964 said:
You described TOSE. Platinum can be fine with the right contracts, the risk of going bankrupt by moving instantly at high budget games for a developer with zero publishing experience and zero recognisable IPs is way bigger.
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There's multiple companies who pull it off, yes. I think what those companies have in common is that they mostly work on third-party IP that already exists, work on a lot of different genres, and with a lot of different partners/publishers. I'd say Saber Interactive is an example of a western company in a similar position as TOSE.

PlatinumGames tried to be much more focused on a single genre, which is/was a huge risk. They were focused on creating new IP, which makes things even riskier. And then indeed, moving to self-publishing was a super-risky movement. For a company like theirs, the road they want to go is very different from the road that makes most sense. And I'd say what TOSE and Saber are pulling off is pretty difficult already.
 
bayonetta said:
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That sounds a little softer, for sure. From the different wording provided, that could equally mean games with less single-player and narrative design focus and more competitive multiplayer-oriented fare that falls outside the live service realm. Which I think no one would object to, if it actually means that instead of live service games.
But it's too soon to tell.
 
Yeah, pretty much confirms that the studio is largely in shambles. I don't know why any publisher would give them a deal similar to Bungie's when they haven't proven that they can even be competent on their own. Pretty much everything they've done of note have been established IP in tandem with other studios/publishers.
 
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Tungsten said:
I'm out and about, but here's some pretty choice quotes in here I haven't seen discussed yet.
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This, in combination with the live service focus, definitely reeks of Inaba and co. desperately fishing for a buyer. Things are looking grim for Platinum..... er, even more than usual, it seems. I hope Nintendo at least has the decency to poach some staff and come out with more Bayonetta and Astral Chain games, at elast.
 
Tungsten said:
I'm out and about, but here's some pretty choice quotes in here I haven't seen discussed yet.
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I found Inaba saying it was weird that Japanese companies with all their money haven’t bought companies a potential hint at certain Publishers (like Nintendo) to buy them. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems like he expects offers that haven’t come.

Quote below:

“I agree, you don’t see that a lot in Japan and personally, I think it’s weird,” he said. “For some of these big companies with all their money you sometimes think, ‘come on! Buy some companies up already!’ It does feel strange to see Japanese companies being passive all of the time.”
 
Platinum has no real value outside of it's talent, the question is does someone think the talent has value staying under the Platinum brand if they were to be acquired?
 
Undead Warrior said:
This, in combination with the live service focus, definitely reeks of Inaba and co. desperately fishing for a buyer. Things are looking grim for Platinum..... er, even more than usual, it seems. I hope Nintendo at least has the decency to poach some staff and come out with more Bayonetta and Astral Chain games, at elast.
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I personally don't see Bayonetta really surviving if Platinum gets bought out. Sure, the critical reception is nice and all, but it doesn't make sense for Nintendo to continually license it from SEGA especially if they purchase PG. It'd make more sense to focus on Astral Chain and develop new IPs Nintendo will own or support other projects. I can't imagine anyone else funding more either given no one else wanted to begin 2 to begin with and now 3 will be exclusive to Nintendo's ecosystem for the foreseeable future.
DeuceGamer said:
I found Inaba saying it was weird that Japanese companies with all their money haven’t bought companies a potential hint at certain Publishers (like Nintendo) to buy them. Maybe I’m wrong but it seems like he expects offers that haven’t come.

Quote below:

“I agree, you don’t see that a lot in Japan and personally, I think it’s weird,” he said. “For some of these big companies with all their money you sometimes think, ‘come on! Buy some companies up already!’ It does feel strange to see Japanese companies being passive all of the time.”
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Yes, this was the quote I was referring to. I know a lot of people on enthusiast forums don't want to upset the status quo, but I imagine there are some smaller developer studios that would like the stability provided by a larger company.
 
BassForever said:
Platinum has no real value outside of it's talent, the question is does someone think the talent has value staying under the Platinum brand if they were to be acquired?
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Do some of the big name Directors, Producers, etc… (like Kamiya) own a stake in these studios? If so it’s unlikely to lure them away from the studio they own without purchasing the studio they have a stake in.

These purchases can be lucrative in the right circumstances. Monolithsoft, Next Level Games, Retro Studios, and others didn’t own any IP but have shown to be incredibly lucrative for Nintendo. It all depends on whether the studio talent is onboard with the purchase and what price you are paying for the studio.
 
DeuceGamer said:
Do some of the big name Directors, Producers, etc… (like Kamiya) own a stake in these studios? If so it’s unlikely to lure them away from the studio they own without purchasing the studio they have a stake in.

These purchases can be lucrative in the right circumstances. Monolithsoft, Next Level Games, Retro Studios, and others didn’t own any IP but have shown to be incredibly lucrative for Nintendo. It all depends on whether the studio talent is onboard with the purchase and what price you are paying for the studio.
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Ruminating on it a bit more, I think this is a good point. It's been brought up that Nintendo has more than enough IPs and needs more developers. I think PG would be pretty amenable to work on those (they worked on Star Fox and Kamiya expressed interest in Mysterious Castle Mursame), but the issue kind of arises when they want to do new stuff. For example, I think one of the Monolith devs expressed some dissatisfaction about Nintendo only greenlighting Xenoblade games. If Nintendo could retain most of the PG talent it would be ok, however.
 
Hopefully a big publisher acquire them, I'm really concerned about platinum's future especially after what happened to them during the last few years and seeing how TW101 and Bayo 2 failed commercially, and seeing how Bayo 3 being in development hell for years and even then game doesn't look good, so probably will meet the same fate as the previously mentioned titles.
Hopefully the publisher that buys them target at least PC,PS and XBOX because this is what seems to work for platinum games, NieR:Automata was such a great success story.
 
It's a rather candid bit of dialogue, and certainly a much softer stance than what was believed that PG want their future to look like based on quotes from Inaba even 2 years ago. It really comes down to what "freedom" they're talking about in the most finite and specific terms. Do they expect their acquirer to green light every project? Do they expect to be able to publish how they like? Is it just about total creative control? That's a bridge you only cross when you get to it, I guess.
Tungsten said:
Ruminating on it a bit more, I think this is a good point. It's been brought up that Nintendo has more than enough IPs and needs more developers. I think PG would be pretty amenable to work on those (they worked on Star Fox and Kamiya expressed interest in Mysterious Castle Mursame), but the issue kind of arises when they want to do new stuff. For example, I think one of the Monolith devs expressed some dissatisfaction about Nintendo only greenlighting Xenoblade games. If Nintendo could retain most of the PG talent it would be ok, however.
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I believe you're referring to this interview?
www.4gamer.net

「ゼノサーガ」の紆余曲折が「ゼノブレイド」を生んだ――不定期連載「原田が斬る！」，第7回はゼノシリーズ総監督の高橋哲哉氏にモノリスソフトの今を聞いた

　鉄拳シリーズのプロデューサー・原田勝弘氏による対談企画「原田が斬る！」の第7回をお届けする。今回のゲストは，当時熱烈な支持を受けた名作RPG「ゼノギアス」の生みの親であり，最新作「ゼノブレイド2」に至るまで，数多くのRPGを手掛けてきた高橋哲哉氏だ。
www.4gamer.net

It was not dissatisfaction, he stated it rather matter-of-factly and doesn't appear to think that is abnormal. Plenty of developers submit projects that don't get a green light for a variety of reasons, that's true within every publisher or platform holder.
There was also a line that suggested Nintendo wanted to see improved results from their flagship IP before they increase development budgets over at Monolith Soft.
 
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Terrell said:
It's a rather candid bit of dialogue, and certainly a much softer stance than what was believed that PG want their future to look like based on quotes from Inaba even 2 years ago. It really comes down to what "freedom" they're talking about in the most finite and specific terms. Do they expect their acquirer to green light every project? Is it just about total creative control? That's a bridge you only cross when you get to it, I guess.

I believe you're referring to this interview?
www.4gamer.net

「ゼノサーガ」の紆余曲折が「ゼノブレイド」を生んだ――不定期連載「原田が斬る！」，第7回はゼノシリーズ総監督の高橋哲哉氏にモノリスソフトの今を聞いた

　鉄拳シリーズのプロデューサー・原田勝弘氏による対談企画「原田が斬る！」の第7回をお届けする。今回のゲストは，当時熱烈な支持を受けた名作RPG「ゼノギアス」の生みの親であり，最新作「ゼノブレイド2」に至るまで，数多くのRPGを手掛けてきた高橋哲哉氏だ。
www.4gamer.net

It was not dissatisfaction, he stated it rather matter-of-factly and doesn't appear to think that is abnormal. Plenty of developers submit projects that don't get a green light for a variety of reasons, that's true within every publisher or platform holder.
There was also a line that suggested Nintendo wanted to see improved results from their flagship IP before they increase development budgets over at Monolith Soft.
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Yes, that is the interview. I supposed the translation I read wasn't accurate then.
 
Tungsten said:
Yes, that is the interview. I supposed the translation I read wasn't accurate then.
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No, it probably was, but probably got mixed in with the commentary both by the interviewer at 4Gamer and the mountain of pennies that accumulated when it first made the rounds and everyone had their 2 cents to chip in.
 
glory said:
Hopefully a big publisher acquire them, I'm really concerned about platinum's future especially after what happened to them during the last few years and seeing how TW101 and Bayo 2 failed commercially, and seeing how Bayo 3 being in development hell for years and even then game doesn't look good, so probably will meet the same fate as the previously mentioned titles.
Hopefully the publisher that buys them target at least PC,PS and XBOX because this is what seems to work for platinum games, NieR:Automata was such a great success story.
Click to expand...

There is not the slightest evidence that Bayo3 is in "development hell". The game got obviously announced when they barely began development and than came Covid.

Bayo2 was definitely not a big seller but was more successful than many other PG games. Astral Chain was very successful, sold already more than 1 mio and more than projected.

> "even then game doesn't look good"
Other say it looks great.

Honestly, your post is dismissing facts and sounds a bit weird.
 
Quoted by: Kye
Tungsten said:
Ruminating on it a bit more, I think this is a good point. It's been brought up that Nintendo has more than enough IPs and needs more developers. I think PG would be pretty amenable to work on those (they worked on Star Fox and Kamiya expressed interest in Mysterious Castle Mursame), but the issue kind of arises when they want to do new stuff. For example, I think one of the Monolith devs expressed some dissatisfaction about Nintendo only greenlighting Xenoblade games. If Nintendo could retain most of the PG talent it would be ok, however.
Click to expand...
Yes, Nintendo has plenty of IP that Platinum could work on. If the price was right and both sides were onboard with the arrangement it could be beneficial, but it really depends on the Development studios in a lot of these cases. Example: Are they looking for the security that comes with being bought?

Almost any buyer is going to have some level of control over the business. That doesn’t necessarily mean taking over creative control and it doesn’t mean the partnership can’t be successful, but they can’t expect a buyer won’t have some amount of say in how they run the studio.
 
Bayo 3 looks a lot less rough than Bayo 2. Clearly it should have been completed earlier and I do think as a whole you can see Platinum being a bit of a mess but I don’t see anything rough from what we’ve seen.

The only thing anyone could really raise in the very little we’ve seen as a complaint is the new boss mode gimmick but thats Just because we’ve not played it yet.
 
GrndMagus said:
How so?
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The open city landscape in the latest trailer just looked barren and drab. Just the worst of the 360/PS3 era, with familiar texturing to boot.


unkindlynice said:
Bayo 3 looks a lot less rough than Bayo 2. Clearly it should have been completed earlier and I do think as a whole you can see Platinum being a bit of a mess but I don’t see anything rough from what we’ve seen.

The only thing anyone could really raise in the very little we’ve seen as a complaint is the new boss mode gimmick but thats Just because we’ve not played it yet.
Click to expand...
Definitely disagree there. Bayo 2's artsyle is great, even if it's tech is old. It's vibrant, colorful, and striking in relation to its two other games.
 
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