The Japanese developer PlatinumGames has seen a somewhat bumpy ride for the past few years. Despite the huge success that was Nier: Automata, PlatinumGames also saw the hugely disastrous cancellation of Xbox One exclusive Scalebound after multiple years of hype and trailers.
For the most part, PlatinumGames has delivered a number of games that did well critically but not so well in the sales such as Bayonetta, Astral Chain and Vanquish.
Perhaps the biggest gambles came in the form of live service Babylon’s Fall which was released as a console exclusive for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 while simultaneously receiving a PC release. Babylon’s Fall was both a critical and commercial failure which has caused serious doubt over Project GG which has seemingly gone quiet.
It now seems that a number of key developers have left PlatinumGames which only further causes serious concerns about the future of the company, but also the future of some of the franchises it developed. On top of Hideki Kamiya exiting PlatinumGames in 2023, Kenji Saito, Takahisa Taura, Masaki Yamanaka and Abebe Tinari have all seemingly left recently, each removing any reference to working At PlatinumGames.
Nintendo fully owns the Astral Chain IP, which means that should Nintendo be interested in following up with sequels, it is possible that another third party developer could take the reigns. A similar scenario could play out for any potential future Bayonetta should Nintendo wish to continue financing the series going forward, though in this case it would likely require Sega’s approval as they are owners of the Bayonetta IP.
The future for PlatinumGames could be in serious doubt with so many seemingly leaving. We will be keeping a close eye on what happens next.
