Bayonetta developer Platinum Games has shed light on its new PlatinumEngine tech, which the company will be using to power its next slate of titles. The news comes following the announcement of Project GG, the third and final instalment in its Hero series of games.
Platinum Games Details PlatinumEngine
PlatinumEngine will afford the developer fewer limitations when creating its games, something which Unreal Engine and Unity were unable to provide. Work on the new engine began around two years ago, with six – seven people currently working to improve the tech.
We tested out external engines like those, but we found that they were lacking some features that we needed. It’s possible those features could be implemented at some point, but even if so, it would be on a timeframe that’s completely out of our control.
When you’re trying to develop highly original titles, that lack of control can be fatal. We decided that developing and improving our own engine is the only way to be sure that we meet our game development teams’ exact needs.
The idea is to take all the unnecessary work away from our game development teams. We’re looking into everything we can do to make their work more efficient, even if those changes seem minor on the surface. Things like reducing the number of button presses needed to convert data, reflecting new work in the build right after it’s converted, or making levels playable directly from the editor.
I have experience setting up digital content creation pipelines, so I have a sense of what artists want their workflow to be like.
My top priority is creating a canvas for rich visuals, with an eye towards recent trends in technology. On top of that, I want to make sure it’s easy for anyone to get good results.
Beyond Project GG, Platinum Games is also working on The Wonderful 101 Remastered and Bayonetta 3, the latter of which is an exclusive to Nintendo Switch.
Looking ahead, the studio has hinted that it wants to pursue non-action games at some point.