PlatinumGames didn’t know whether Bayonetta 3 or Bayonetta Origins would release first

A new interview has revealed that PlatinumGames didn’t know whether Bayonetta 3 or Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon would be released first.

That comes in a recent interview with Famitsu. Several members of the development team weighed in, including Nintendo producers Makoto Okazaki and Koji Tanaka as well as PlatinumGames supervising director Hideki Kamiya.

Okazaki indicated that Bayonetta Origins was in development for several years right alongside Bayonetta 3. He added that the release order “was based on which would generate the most excitement for the Bayonetta series, while also looking at development status of both games.”

Our translation is as follows:

There really hasn’t been much of a gap between this game and the October release of Bayonetta 3. Were the two projects being developed at the same time?

Okazaki: Bayonetta 3 was announced in 2017, and already at that time this project was also moving along. From that time five years have passed and we were finally able to announce this game, too. For a long time we didn’t make any announcements about this project, and I’m sure everyone at PlatinumGames was a little frustrated by this.

Kamiya: It’s the same with any title or project, but once it is announced we hear expectations and hopes from fans, and that can really help to motivate the staff. However, with this project, the staff didn’t have any of that and worked silently behind the scenes, which I think must have been somewhat tough on them.

Actually I don’t wish to sound like I’m complaining, but even during the middle of development we didn’t actually know whether Bayonetta 3 or Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon would be released first!

Okazaki: For Nintendo, the question of which to release first was based on which would generate the most excitement for the Bayonetta series, while also looking at development status of both games. In the end we decided to deliver Bayonetta 3 to existing fans before announcing and releasing a brand new title.

Since both games were being developed simultaneously, were they being made by two completely separate teams?

Tanaka: Yeah that right. We did still share information within the company and were all aware about what kind of game they were and the story they would both have.

Kamiya: Since they were being made simultaneously, there are secret connections between the world. If you play both I feel you can enjoy a deeper experience. Or of course you can just play Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon!

Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon is currently available on Switch.

Translation provided by Simon Griffin on behalf of Nintendo Everything.