PlatinumGames Would Love To Self-Publish The Bayonetta Series If It Could

In a new interview, PlatinumGames‘ Atsushi Inaba said he’d love to self-publish Bayonetta if it was possible.

With the recent success of The Wonderful 101’s Kickstarter campaign, it seems PlatinumGames would like to self-publish some more titles in the future. In a recent interview with IGN Japan, Platinum producer Atsushi Inaba commented that he would love to self-publish Bayonetta if it was possible. The situation is tricky because of the co-ownership nature that Nintendo and Sega have on the IP.

“I think ‘Bayonetta‘ is a very important title for Platinum Games,” Inaba said, “so it’s an honest feeling that I would like to do it if there is such a chance.” One of the main hurdles would be obtaining funding. While The Wonderful 101 was immensely successful with its crowdfunding campaign, Bayonetta would need considerably more money to receive ports to other platforms due to its entanglement to Nintendo and Sega.

Still, self-publishing was always the goal for PlatinumGames. As Inaba states, he feels self-publishing can allow for a greater degree of freedom in the stories you want to tell. It’s obviously not an end-all, be-all answer, but it could push forward different ideas than going with a traditional publisher.

The rest of the interview touches on whether The Wonderful 101 will see a sequel or if regaining control of Bayonetta is even possible. Platinum is very happy with the success it has seen and would like to continue making games that its fans will enjoy. Nothing is set in stone, but the company wants to remain on its current path and hopefully produce great stuff.

It was a real surprise to see The Wonderful 101 pop up again on Kickstarter. There were plenty of rumors of a Switch port being in the works, but for Nintendo to let Platinum publish the game on PC and PS4 is a bold move. In this era when exclusivity seems to reign supreme, letting players experience a once exclusive title on a rival platform is crazy.

Nintendo likely just wants the best for the company. It probably won’t let go of Bayonetta so easily, but there is some hope that Platinum may eventually be in full control of the franchise. Then we can all partake of the witch hunts on whatever console we choose.