Japanese games firm PlatinumGames has denied the rumours that it might be a new addition to Microsoft's Xbox Game Studios.
In an interview with VGC, studio head Atsushi Inaba (pictured) said that the developer hadn't been bought by the Big M, nor has Microsoft even broached the subject. Even if the American software and games giant did offer to buy Microsoft, Inaba says that Platinum probably wouldn't be interested.
This follows Xbox boss Phil Spencer saying in the past that he would like to acquire an Asian studio at E3 2019. The company has made a lot of studio purchases in the last few years, including Ninja Theory, Obsidian, InXile and Double Fine. Microsoft and Platinum worked together on the cancelled Scalebound in the past. Inaba has previously said that he felt the Big M bored an unfair share of the blame for that title eventually being cancelled.
"I did read some rumours about Xbox wanting to purchase PlatinumGames, and I thought: 'People on the internet write the craziest stuff’, because that conversation has not come to our doorstep at all," Inaba said.
"That said, we’re not Microsoft, so we don’t know what happens behind their doors, we don’t know if they had any thoughts about it possibly."
He continued: "We’ve not had any talks like that, but I think even if it was a possibility, we’re now going into more independent self-publishing. It’s not that we’re disinterested in Microsoft, but if the relationship were to be us working under their direction, I feel like that would be the opposite of what we’re trying to do now and limit our possibilities. Any opportunities that would limit our freedom I think we would be against."
In recent years, PlatinumGames has been trying to diversify its lineup. Previously, the firm worked on many titles for other companies. As the demise of Telltale Games showed, this isn't a very secure long-term position. The studio has been working on some of its own IP, but still wants to do work-for-hire projects. Earlier this year, Platinum took to Kickstarter to fund a remastered version of Wii U title The Wonderful 101 for modern platforms, including Steam. It eventually raised $2.23m, though the studio has said that the campaign was more about gauging interest rather than securing financing.
Platinum recently opened a brand new studio in Tokyo to work on its new IP, Project GG. The developer also secured funding from Chinese tech and entertainment giant Tencent at the start of 2020.
