Last month, Kenichi Sato, the former CEO of celebrated developer PlatinumGames, stepped down from his position. Immediately afterward, former PlatinumGames VP Atsushi Inaba assumed Sato’s previous role. He was a suitable replacement, considering Inaba served as the CEO of Clover Studio. For some, Clover is PlatinumGames’ spiritual predecessor of sorts, and had created the widely revered Viewtiful Joe, Okami, and God Hand. And since PlatinumGames’ developers have gained a reputation for pushing original ideas and game concepts, it only seems fitting that Inaba would have some ambitious plans of his own. In short, VGC reports that the new CEO of PlatinumGames wants to put out games larger in scope than the ones the company has released so far, and he even hinted that the studio will further explore the live service model after Babylon’s Fall.
Although Inaba did not directly state that he wanted to release more live service games, he did express a desire to make games that players can enjoy “for a longer period of time.” He made this statement soon after specifically mentioning Project GG, the latest work of director Hideki Kamiya and the first IP that PlatinumGames completely owns.
A shift in priorities
Inaba aimed to reassure fans of the studio’s more focused, arcade-like games. He stated that Platinum “would like to cherish and create small but brilliantly conceived games such as Sol Cresta, and games in which you can enjoy the process of clearing the game by going through one-off, well-designed stages, such as Bayonetta.”
But he notes the gaming market has and will continue to change drastically over time. The studio will need to develop games with different structures to move beyond its “indie-class” roots and “return to the original ethos of PlatinumGames.”
The plans laid out by the new CEO of PlatinumGames seem interesting at the very least. Players will likely be especially curious, if uneasy, to see how the studio could expand its live service efforts. In particular, the suggestion that Project GG could function as a live service game comes off as surprising and even a little concerning, as Kamiya’s previous output does not suggest that this is a business model he’s particularly interested in. Ultimately, though, we can only wait and see how Project GG turns out, and hopefully, it will represent Kamiya’s true, uncompromised vision.
