Bayonetta Dev Explains Why It Can't Focus Entirely on Original IP

Bayonetta developer Platinum Games has explained its interest in developing games based on licensed properties, saying that creating nothing but completely original games was an unsustainable strategy.

Speaking to Famitsu, as translated by Kotaku, the studio's chief executive Tatsuya Minami admitted that Platinum originally wanted to solely make new IP, but said such an endeavour was "considerably difficult."

"We used to have the idea that we wanted to be a studio that only made 100 percent original games," he said. "However, it turns out that only doing that is considerably difficult, and so now we take on various work."

Along With Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, a spin-off of Konami's Metal Gear series, Platinum has also developed games based on Nickleodeon's Avatar: The Legend of Korra and Hasbro's Transformers. Both games were published by Activision.

Eiro Shirahama, a director at the studio, said partners have given Platinum a great deal of freedom to develop games as they see fit.

"The IP holders also are like ‘Let Platinum Games do what they do for the action parts,’ so we are given tremendous freedom with development," Shirahama said.

On January 26, Activision officially revealed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, one of the latest projects in development at Platinum. The game will tell the story of the Foot Clan's first assault on New York City and will launch in summer 2016 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and PC.

Platinum Games' ongoing projects also include Star Fox Zero, which is being developed in partnership with Nintendo. The game is scheduled for release on April 22 on Wii U. It was originally scheduled for a November 2015 launch, but was delayed.

In a message to fans, producer Shigeru Miyamoto apologised for the delay. He explained Nintendo wanted "to polish the game a bit more so that players will be able to more smoothly grasp the new style of play that we are proposing." Platinum Games later said the delay was in order to ensure the game had more of that "Platinum feel."

The studio is also developing Xbox One exclusive Scalebound, which was recently delayed into 2017. In a message to fans, key developers said the extra time was necessary in order to "deliver on our ambitious vision." It will also "[help us] bring to life all the innovative features and thrilling gameplay experiences that we have planned."

For more on the developer, check out GameSpot's extended feature on Platinum Games.