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Is PlatinumGames Spreading Themselves Too Thin?

With the recent cancellation of the Xbox exclusive, Scalebound, what does it mean for Platinum Games? Are they spreading themselves too thin?

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rolando1233425d ago

They're definitely making too many games

IamTylerDurden13425d ago

No, Nier Automata is amazing by all accounts. Go play the demo on PS4.

rocketpanda3425d ago

Yes, the Nier demo is great.

I don't think greysun directly means a single title. Platinum as a company spreading their limited resources by working in various projects at the same time could damage them regarding future projects if many projects end up not selling well, being cancelled or just not good.

Bayonetta and Vanquish are great games, sold badly. Metal Gear, sold becaus well it's Metsl Gear. Platinum b-team's titles like legged of Kora, TMNT and Transformers were ok to bad.

This is a studio I want to be around for long time and not shut down due to poor project management.

darthv723425d ago

Scalebound initially started out as a wii project back around the time they worked on the first bayonetta. they tried pitching the idea to different publishers but there were no takers. Nintendo moved on to the wiiu and this game did not go anywhere until MS wanted a game and here was scalebound just sitting there.

I don't think MS payed for the IP as it was created by PG but they certainly paid a pretty penny for development and that didnt really transpire as quickly as their other projects did (Nier comes to mind). Rather than MS keep pumping $$ into this game they just made the choice of canceling it. Can you really fault MS for PG having more projects than they can handle?

Conspiracy theory time... what if (just what if) sony had something to do with sabotaging the development cycle of SB by tasking Square with Nier (thus shifting development time away from SB and onto Nier). I mean seriously. A JP dev making a game for a US publisher when other JP publishers could just as easily persuade this JP dev into sidelining this one project and focus more on one for the home team. (yeah its far fetched, and it was meant to be)

Aenea3425d ago

Or is MS at fault?

We don't know what happened....

lelo2play3425d ago

Scalebound has been in development for 4 years... yep It's Microsoft's fault for the game not being ready. /s

_-EDMIX-_3425d ago

Microsoft owns the intellectual property, they could have simply got another team to assist Platinum Games if they felt there was trouble.

Did Sony not have Sony of Santa Monica assist ready at dawn when they were creating the Order 1886?

If it's their investment in their property I'm pretty positive they're going to want to see what's best for the investment and fans.

If Sony could make the Last Guardian work and Square Enix could make Final Fantasy 15 work I'm pretty damn positive Microsoft could have made scalebound work.

Scalebound is canceled simply because Microsoft is gun-shy on supporting new intellectual properties they simply do not want to have to spend the money.

there are publishers clearly in gaming that would have done something completely different with the same situation

IamTylerDurden13425d ago

I'm sure Microsoft influenced production of the game.

nitus103425d ago

The Dude Bro voice acting and the use of a stereo headset had to be Microsoft's influence

Razzer3425d ago

I think Microsoft lost patience. Scalebound was announced in 2014. Nier:Automata was announced a year later is about to be released. I'm betting Platinum told MS that Scalebound wasn't going to be released this year and MS pulled the plug.

Mikefizzled3425d ago

It sounds like Microsoft were expecting a truly fantastic product and Platinum were struggling to keep up with it. It constantly missed targets and I think Microsoft realised it was just never going to be finished.

Microsoft DID have people helping develop it. They supposedly had sent a team over to help getting it to work in UE4 but they just don't have a Japanese speaking team for it to work seamlessly.

Aenea3425d ago

We just don't know what the actual reasons are, I can also write things like:
We know MS is difficult, we know they put too much pressure on devs with their deadlines, we know they added Win10 PlayAnywhere support which might not have been calculated up front in the time and cost.

Everyone in development, not just game development, knows there are clients out there who keep changing things, who keep changing specs and wants and stuff, for all we know that is also what happened here.

If MS didn't have Japanese translators or didn't want to pay for them to help the team then whose fault is that?

Again, we don't know what happened, I just find it too easy to blame either MS or PlatinumGames... When 2 people fight usually both are at fault, could be the case here as well...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3425d ago
Featuring_Dante3425d ago

Not really. They just need better producers or directors. I'm not sure.
They made Bayonetta and Vanquish in succession and they both turned out amazing!

OtakuDJK1NG-Rory3425d ago (Edited 3425d ago )

When they work with Japanese Publishers everything is fine.
They fine with Sega, Nintendo, Konami and now Square Enix.

Microsoft and Activision aren't even trying to help. They just say hey here the money make something big.

Bluemaster773425d ago

This is one of those "Colin was right" moments. Platinum went from being a consistently good developer to mediocre in the blink of an eye. And its because they've elected to take on too my projects in my opinion. Though I'm not sure how large or small the studio is, it's never a good sign when they're putting out 5-7 titles a year. Lets hope they reorganize and rebound from this.

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70°

Microsoft Gaming Revenue Drops 7% Year-on-Year, Content and Services Down 5%, Xbox Hardware Down 33%

Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.

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Jin_Sakai29d ago (Edited 29d ago )

Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.

dveio28d ago

To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.

Jingsing28d ago

The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.

Tanktopmaster9228d ago

Once they re-evaluate exclusive all will be fine….

S2Killinit28d ago

Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.

Jingsing28d ago

15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.

Tanktopmaster9228d ago

These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse

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50°

Spiders Studio, Developers of GreedFall: The Dying World, Announce Liquidation of the Company

Spiders: "We're going to cut straight to the chase so you're not left wondering: After a long period without clear answers, we have received confirmation that Spiders is being liquidated.

What does it mean? This means the company as a whole no longer exists. We'll cease our functions immediately. The planned DLC will release via Nacon, and then-- well, that's it.

We're sorry that it's come to this and would like to thank each and every one of you for your support over the years.

If you have any questions or run into issues with your games, please contact Nacon directly as we'll no longer be able to reply."

40°

Koei Tecmo Announces Record Financial Results After Releasing Many Big Games

Today, Koei Tecmo announced its financial results for the full fiscal year 2025, related to the period between April 2025 and March 2026.

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