Is Self-Publication The Way Forward?
You may not be familiar with the name Platinum Games, but if you consider yourself even a casual gamer, then chances are you’ve already played one of their titles. Often working alongside other publishers such as Sega and Nintendo, these developers are responsible for such hits as Vanquish, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the Bayonetta series and most recently Nier: Automata.Â
Sure, they’ve had their face share of misfires including the cancelled Xbox-exclusive Scalebound, but for the most part when fans hear about an upcoming project from Platinum Games, they’re left jumping for joy.
In which case they should be working themselves into a frenzy right about now since according to an article on IGN, it has recently been announced that the developers will be self-publishing a brand new title alongside Bayonetta 3.Â
Platinum Games has two designs in mind for brand new IP, and wants to change its approach and self-publish this game.
Atsushi Inaba, head of development and producer at Platinum revealed the independent studio’s new focus in an interview with Game Informer.
“Up until now, obviously we’ve worked on original IPs for a wide variety of publishers,” Inaba said. “We’ve also worked on other Hollywood IPs for other publishers as well. But we’re becoming more and more interested in the idea of self-publishing and doing our own title.”
In addition to developing properties like Vanquish, Bayonetta, and Nier: Automata, Platinum also developed the 2015 licensed game, Transformers: Devastation for Activision.
“We can’t put together a AAA, $10 million-plus game, because we just don’t have that sort of cash as an independent developer”, Inaba said in response to a question about what size of game can be expected from Platinum. “However, we don’t plan to go the indies route with just a few people on a team making a game, so it’ll be somewhere in the middle.”
Seems like it is unlikely this new project is going to be a sequel to their previous works, which is a shame because there are many who would give anything to see Vanquish 2. Maybe another chance at making a decent Legend of Korra game? Or how about that Kill la Kill game they mentioned one time? Give us something Platinum Games!Â
Be sure to check out the official teaser for Bayonetta 3 below, as well as see where Nier: Automata landed on our picks for the Top 10 Best Video Games of 2017!
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