PlatinumGames Becoming A Live Service Factory Breaks My Heart
In a recent interview with Famitsu (via VGC), PlatinumGames CEO Atsushi Inaba provided a glimpse at the studio’s future, and how it hopes to create games that “can be enjoyed and loved for a longer period of time" instead of being completed and put aside like Bayonetta or NieR Automata.
In slightly prettier language the company is basically saying it will lean into experiences with live-service elements that focus on user retention and increased economic viability. We are seeing the beginning of this with Babylon’s Fall, a title published by Square Enix that launches next month, and I’ve heard almost nobody talk about it. What a bummer.
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I’d recommend giving the full translated interview a look for yourself, since I don’t believe it to be a formal resignation of single-player efforts from PlatinumGames. Inaba makes a point to mention that games such as Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101 that are designed to be completed in a single setting will continue to emerge from the studio, but in the future it wishes to be riskier and more ambitious with titles that can be played for a much longer period of time.
It is adapting to current trends and seeking to ensure its continued relevance, but I can’t help but feel that Platinum is only relevant because it can create games like nobody else can. It is the undisputed king of character action, and would be foolish to throw such a moniker away to focus on live-service multiplayer outings. The reaction to this news amidst gaming circles has been universally negative, fearing what the company might become with the creation of games like Babylon’s Fall and Project G.G.
These games could be great, and I’m absolutely not discounting
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