Should Nintendo buy Platinum Games?

You might scoff at the question if Nintendo should buy Platinum Games, but the two companies have been linked for many years, with some of the companies most successful games and most creative ones, made for Nintendo platforms and the close relationship the two companies have, it would be an ideal match. But before we all rush to the internet to claim this is a great idea, there are a few questions we have to ask.

Before we get into the will they/won’t they, we need to take a quick look at the history of Platinum Games, if you want a quick history of Nintendo, check this out, but with Platinum Games, they have not been around that long. The studio was founded when Seeds Inc and Odd Inc merged way back in October 2007, which makes 2019 their 12 year anniversary. Seeds Inc was founded by famed game developers Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba, and Hideki Kamiya, which were members of the Capcom studio Clover, the development house that brought us the quirky Viewtiful Joe and Okami. Odd Inc was founded by Tatsuya Minami and between the four of them, they had created some of the best games we had seen, including titles like Resident Evil and Devil May Cry.

Not long after they were merged, it was announced that the studio would be partnering with Sega in creating four games for various platforms, their first ever game as a studio was Madworld, a black and white brawler, exclusively for the Wii. The game was made for the Wii with Producer Atsushi Inaba stating “We have created many games that were suitable for a Nintendo platform and that’s just what happened with Madworld.” And while the game did not do so well in terms of sales, but quickly developed a bit of a cult following. The next game was for 3DS and it was after that the studio started releasing games on other platforms, such as Bayonetta and Vanquish. However, it would be 4 years between the 3DS title Infinite Space, before Platinum Games would once again make a game for a Nintendo system and when they did, we got the delightful “The Wonderful 101”.

But it was in 2014 that Platinum Games stood in the spotlight, when they announced a sequel to Bayonetta, something that made a lot of fans very happy, until they learned it was coming to Wii U, exclusively. Gamers were upset, how could a company known for crafted fast paced action titles, release the sequel to Bayonetta on the platform for kids, it turns out it was one of pure chance. After the success of the first game, Platinum Games and Sega, the owners of the brand, were working on the next game in the series, but in the middle of development, Sega pulled out and cancelled the project. A clear reason was never truly given, but thanks to the close partnership that Nintendo had with the studio, with their close work on The Wonderful 101, Nintendo offered to step in and fund the development, saving the game. Inaba has stated publicly that Nintendo did not get involved with the games development, just support when asked.

After the release of Bayonetta 2, the studio headed into the world of licenced titles, something which excited many gamers, they had signed a deal with Activision for three games and for Xbox, PlayStation and PC, giving us The Legend of Korra, Transformers: Devastation and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan. While the games were not received all that well, nor did they sell well, it kept the lights on for the next game that Platinum Games developed, Star Fox Zero. When Nintendo wanted to create a new game for Fox McCloud and his band of space fairing animal buddies, they decided to work with another studio, to help keep the development moving at a steady pace. The decision to involve Platinum Games, stemmed from the Arwing level in Bayonetta 2 and the results are what we know as Star Fox Zero and while the game might not be the best game around, it has its moments, making use of the Wii U like few games even attempted to do.

Since then, the studio has had a game cancelled in Scalebound, stepped away from a project with mega mobile publisher Cygames and published their first mobile game World of Demons, but it was their work on Nier: Automata that according to Hideki Kamiya saved the studio. While the game was directed by Nier creator Yoko Taro, it was Platinum Games that did the work under his direction, with over 2 million copies sold, it put the studio back on the map, so to speak and it was at the end of the 2017 Game Awards in Los Angeles, that we learnt of Bayonetta 3, coming to Switch, though no release date was given. Phew, now that the quick history lesson is completed, we have to ask those questions.

First up, can Platinum Games work as a second party studio, much like Retro Studios are now. The answer is yes, quite easily as being owned by a larger company and a console maker at that, would allow them more freedom to craft experiences that the studio is known for, those out of the box titles that make a game, a Platinum Game. But it is not just the safety of being owned that would help them out, they currently have around 200 employees, so with a new overlord, I mean owner, it would allow them to grow some more, perhaps create some more experimental games for digital release only.

If we assume that they are ok with that, the second question we need to ask, is are we, the gaming public ok with them being bought out. I say yes, as the studio has released around 16 games in their 12 years, 4 of which are exclusive to Nintendo platforms, with 2 more on the way, this does not count their work on Star Fox. They have never released any other title on a single platform, each game has released on multiple platforms, usually a console and PC, but still, it seems if they make for a Nintendo console, they make only for Nintendo. In fact if you look through their released titles, only two of their own IP, were never released for Nintendo platforms, and those IP are owned by Sega, so it seems when Platinum Games wants to make a new original title, they tend to go to Nintendo platforms.

Finally, the big question, does Nintendo want to own them? The answer is clearly, maybe and I say that, because they have now worked with the company to create 5 titles, almost all of which have done quite well since release. Obtaining a studio with the pedigree like Platinum Games would be a feather in the cap of Nintendo, that they don’t really have right now, Retro Studios has made some fantastic games, but they have been radio silent since the Wii U release of Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, the port being excluded from that. Nintendo own a number of studios that people tend to forget about, like Monolith Studios, but a lot of the games that feature Nintendo characters are developed by studios that Nintendo works with, like HAL Laboratory, Next Level Games or Grezzo.

Nintendo picking up Platinum Games makes a lot of sense, but only time will tell if they want to sink a lot of cash into the company, but what do you think, would Nintendo owning Platinum Games make sense, or would you prefer the companies to remain good friends and nothing more?