Platinum Games, the Japanese developer behind hits such as Vanquish or Bayonetta, wants to self-publish its games for the PC platform and is considering popular crowdfunding website Kickstarter as a way to get money from fans.
Platinum Games has quickly become one of the most prolific independent developers in Japan, bringing a variety of impressive games in partnership with many different publishers, from Sega (Bayonetta or Vanquish) to Konami (Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance).
Sadly, given the high costs of producing a game for current-generation consoles, like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, the studio has had to collaborate with different publishers in order to bring its projects to life, which prevented it from porting them onto platforms like the PC.
"Console game development budgets are really big," Platinum’s Executive Director, Atsushi Inaba told
Polygon, "so we need publishing partners to create those games. I was thinking - with our own money - about creating a PC title for Steam. It would give us the possibility to become a publisher, which is very attractive to me."
According to Inaba, who has worked on cult classic games for Capcom like Okami, God Hand, or Viewtiful Joe, the PC platform has a lot of potential and, provided the studio is helped with money by fans, he definitely sees future Platinum projects reaching Steam, for example.
"If you think about the console market in Japan, and compare it to the world, it's not that big. So I view the PC as an area with huge potential. It would be great if we could do a Kickstarter and gather enough money for a game to be released on Steam."
Another platform that has caught the eye of Inaba is the Nintendo 3DS which, according to the Japanese producer, builds upon the hugely successful DS, for which Platinum made a game way back in 2009, called Infinite Space.
"We are very interested in the Nintendo 3DS as a platform," he added. "I view 3DS as a proper, straightforward evolution from a platform that has had huge success. Being able to view stereoscopic 3D with the naked eye is a great innovation, but very straightforward, so I'm very interested in it."
Currently, Platinum is working on two big games,
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and
Bayonetta 2, for the Nintendo Wii U.
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