NintendObs Thinks: The Future of PlatinumGames.
Path of the developer-for-hire who wants to be independent, as seen from the perspective of Nintendo interests.
You’ve known them on Nintendo hardware through outstanding games they’ve made like The Wonderful 101, Bayonetta 2, Astral Chain and soon, Bayonetta 3. PlatinumGames effectively, from a Nintendo player’s perspective and I would argue from a corporate Nintendo perspective as well, acts as Nintendo’s action game branch whenever the two companies come into contract. However, looking at the recent changes at the company, its ambitions of also becoming their own publisher, and the direction of the videogame landscape, it is my belief that eventually, PlatinumGames will find themselves in a position with no other choice than a critical partnership with Nintendo.
Two things really lead me to that conclusion this month. The first one, is the departure of the previous President & CEO of PlatinumGames Kenichi Sato at the start of the new year. Despite his many accomplishments at the company, from opening a new PlatinumGames office in Tokyo to setting the developer on track for self-publishing, he was unable to put in place his vision of “creat[ing] a completely new and original company-owned IP within 3 years,” an endeavor still in the works and currently known as Project G.G. directed by veteran director Hideki Kamiya. PlatinumGames veteran producer Atsushi Inaba is now at the helm of the company, a move that in retrospect was forshadowed by his promotion in September 2021 as Vice President.
The second event that got me thinking, undeniably the most major earthquake in videogames this month, is the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft. It is clear what future the house of Xbox has for gaming, trying to shift the medium to a Netflix business model and aiming to force competitors to follow suite exactly like Netflix drew Amazon, Disney, Apple and more to do the same. Since Microsoft and Sony adopt a quasi-indentical philosophy in the design of their console ecosystems, PlayStation will have to adapt, and the only of the big three left to support a vision where the uniqueness of software is king will be none other than Nintendo.