PlatinumGames CEO Atsushi Inaba says staying hands-off kept the Stellar Blade Bayonetta collaboration on track, and Shift Up’s Kim Hyung-tae backs that up. In a joint Famitsu interview, Inaba said that if his studio was “nitpicky”, it “would ruin the collaboration”.
Here is what the two said about trust, the approval process, the lettering on the outfits and a possible future project together.
Inaba told Famitsu that his team’s approach was deliberate. He said PlatinumGames can only collaborate with people it can entrust everything to, and that the studio’s only real request was to do a good job.
Kim said the arrangement made life easier for the Shift Up team. He called the quick approval process a great help, which fits with a partner that was not combing through every detail.
What the Collaboration Adds to Stellar Blade
Shift Up and PlatinumGames worked together on Bayonetta-themed outfits for Eve, the lead character of Stellar Blade. One of them is an original design created by Kim himself. The outfits are free and arrive on November 5 on Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and PC.
Kim said the lettering that decorates Bayonetta’s outfit carries meaning, and getting it right was both a struggle and a learning experience for his team.
Could a New Bayonetta Game Follow?
Kim has said he would love to help make a new Bayonetta game, and joked in the interview that if PlatinumGames made him a desk, he would come every day. Inaba replied that Shift Up designing something for PlatinumGames could make for a good cross-collaboration, and said he would be interested in working with Shift Up again.
Asked about a future entry in the series, Inaba said he could not answer at the moment. He did say he wants to expand Bayonetta as a character and broaden her world. Creator Hideki Kamiya left PlatinumGames in 2023.
