Japanese developer PlatinumGames has honed in on creating fast-paced action games of high quality and seems to have picked up speed in recent years. 2020 will be a monumental year for the company, at least according to its president, Kenichi Sato. Sato explained that an announcement coming early 2020 will mark “the beginning of a new stage” for Platinum, as it plans to operate at “full speed” going into 2021. He admits that they had said this for 2019, and “it’s a bit late,” but he hopes that some big news in early 2020 will kick that off.
This news comes by way of a big New Year’s post on Inside Games, featuring a number of Japanese studios and developers. Sato expressed his gratitude to the fans for their support in recent years following the success of NieR: Automata and the Nintendo Switch exclusive Astral Chain. He also notes that Astral Chain was the first original new action game since 2013’s The Wonderful 101, which launched exclusively for the Wii U.
While it isn’t clear what else the studio might have planned for 2020, we do know of a couple of things: The Bayonetta & Vanquish 10th Anniversary Bundle will launch in February, giving us remasters of two classic Platinum action games. We also know we’ll be getting more information about the studio’s new game Babylon’s Fall this summer. Many are also eagerly anticipating Bayonetta 3—a game that hasn’t been discussed much outside of its initial announcement at The Game Awards 2017. Don’t expect to play it on PlayStation though. It’s being developed as a Nintendo Switch exclusive.
PlatinumGames will also work towards self-publishing as it moves towards owning its IP, giving the studio more creative freedom during development. In the past, the team made a name for itself by creating games based on licensed and existing IP like Metal Gear Rising, The Legend of Kora, Transformers: Devastation, Star Fox Zero, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. Now that the studio is more established, it can make strides towards focusing on its own properties instead of relying on third-party publishers and licensed franchises.
[Source: Inside Games via Video Games Chronicle]
