PlatinumGames, the studio behind Bayonetta might look to focus on live service titles in the future

It’s highly likely that PlatinumGames might be looking into investing a larger focus on live service games in the near future.

Company co-founder Atsushi Inaba, who recently took over as CEO/president from Kenichi Sato, has suggested that the studio will be looking to take a different direction with their games in a recent interview with Famitsu.

Inaba says that moving forward, PlatinumGames will create more games that will “be enjoyed and loved for a longer period of time." This will be in contrast to some of their previous titles, like the Bayonetta franchise, NieR: Automata, and Transformers: Devastation, which were all “one-off, well-designed” games.

This, in turn, is leading many in the community to feel that perhaps the studio might be looking at the live service model, and making titles that get updated frequently.

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Will PlatinumGames take up the live service model?

Community members are pretty convinced that PlatinumGames is likely to take up the live service model for their future titles. Their upcoming MMO-style game, Babylon’s Fall fits the direction perfectly, and this will just be the first of many titles to come.

In the interview, Inaba goes on to state:

“In the past, even if we wanted to create our own IP, it was difficult to do so, and even if we could, it would be on a very small scale… we could only make indie-class products. In the future, I would like to get rid of all of that and make larger games from our ideas and succeed in at least one thing. I want to lead PlatinumGames in a direction that is pure and unadulterated, and never look back. I think that’s my role now.”

He even puts forth his opinions on “Day1 patches” and how he likes to make adjustments to his title to the very last second:

“Personally, I don't think it's very desirable to get a lot of DAY1 patches in a work that sells a packaged version. I think most homes have an online environment now, but I wonder if you can't play in the best possible way without an online environment. However, if it is a digital download version, there is an online environment from the beginning, so I really try to make adjustments to the last minute. Of course, it doesn't assume a patch. I hope the era of full digital will come soon.”

It will be quite interesting to see what direction the studios' titles do take in the future, and how the community receive them if they do take up the live service model.