Third Segment Of Platinum4 Initiative Is The Opening Of New Studio In Tokyo, Japan

Reflecting back to the beginning of February, PlatinumGames announced that the team will be pursuing self-publishing through the ranks of a newly launched initiative, Platinum4. What will be comprised of this new guideline that the Japanese developer orchestrated will offer insight on the steps that the team is taking for upcoming projects.

First, this came with the announcement of The Wonderful 101: Remastered which would be crowdfunded through the means of a Kickstarter campaign. Fortunately in contrast to the sales of the initial Wii U version, the remaster received roughly $2.25 million thanks to backers and donators even after the funding process closed earlier in March. The other being the vague Project G.G. A Go-Go which we can only dissect from the announcement trailer shared.

Now in light of the third announcement, we learn that Pltinum4 extends beyond just software projects. PlatinumGames announced that the third portion of the initiative is the opening of a new studio in Tokyo, Japan.

In December 2019, PlatinumGames entered into a capital alliance with Tencent Holdings. This allowed us to start work on Project G.G., our first entirely original IP, in earnest. It also contributed to our decision to establish PlatinumGames Tokyo – a pillar of our new commitment to building our power as a developer. Between our Osaka office and PlatinumGames Tokyo, we’re poised to make use of the sharpest creative minds in games in both west and east Japan, and expand to even greater possibilities.

Kenichi Sato, PlatinumGames President & CEO

In reference to the “capital alliance” provided by Tencent Holdings, the PlatinumGames CEO is referencing the capital investment made by the Chinese-based firm last year. This decision ultimately swayed the team to fully pursue self-publishing and essentially birthed the Platinum4 initiative as well.

One interesting aspect from the announcement further in the post is The Platinum 8: a list of guidelines that help assist the creators at the developer with “challenges of our daily work.” The game studio has already stated to go beyond and experiment with new elements now given the financial freedom to do so, with a metric to assist team members will surely further accomplishment of upcoming projects.

Project One ‘The Wonderful 101: Remastered’ is primed for release in May & June for Nintendo Switch, PC, and PlayStation 4.

Source: Platinum4