PlatinumGames on its relationship with Nintendo, Switch’s success
Going back to the days of the Wii U, Nintendo and PlatinumGames have maintained a strong relationship. The two sides have partnered on Bayonetta, The Wonderful 101, Star Fox Zero, and Astral Chain.
Speaking about Platinum’s relationship with Nintendo in an interview with VGC, studio head Atsushi Inaba noted:
“Nintendo is a company that respects creators. From that perspective, it is a strong, organic fit for us. However, please understand that I personally have known them for over 20 years and Platinum has been talking with them for a long time, so this is a relationship that has been forged over the past 20 years.
It’s not like in the last two years they came knocking at our door saying, ‘let’s do all these games!’ We’ve been friends for a long time and through that cycle we’ve built up a lot of trust, got to know who that other company is and that opens the door to a lot of new opportunities as time goes on. So, it’s simply that both companies have a lot of trust.”
Inaba also responded to a comment that Switch is doing very well and selling quite a bit, especially in Japan:
Absolutely. It makes both sides happy because if you make a game and unfortunately it’s for a platform that doesn’t do very well, then neither side is happy. To be able to make games for hardware that is doing very well makes both sides happy.
Without a doubt the Switch plays a huge part in the growth of the Japanese market right now. But also, there are more PC games in Japan than there were, and the Japanese audience is starting to play more Western-themed genres than they were: things like FPS and battle royale. There’s not so much of a resistance in young gamers in Japan for new things.
