PlatinumGames May Be Working on an Online Open World Game

Summary

PlatinumGames may be working on another live service game after Ninja Gaiden 4.
A new job posting seeks a game designer who has 'online action game' and 'open field game' experience.

PlatinumGames' next title could end up being another live service game like Babylon's Fall. One of the premier action game studios in the industry, PlatinumGames made a name for itself in the 2010s with widely celebrated titles like Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, the Bayonetta series, and Nier: Automata. While independent, Platinum has been known to collaborate with many of Japan's largest publishers, such as Square Enix, Sega, and Nintendo.

Three years after its latest major release, the Nintendo Switch exclusive Bayonetta 3, PlatinumGames made a surprise appearance at Xbox's Developer Direct earlier this year. It was during the presentation that Xbox revealed that PlatinumGames is collaborating with Team Ninja, another widely adored action studio, on Ninja Gaiden 4. The next big mainline installment in the beloved ninja action franchise is due out sometime later this year, and many fans of the series are thrilled to have PlatinumGames' fingerprints on it.

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By J Brodie Shirey

A new job posting seems to have provided a glimpse into PlatinumGames' future beyond Ninja Gaiden 4. Platinum posted on Japanese job site HRMOS looking for a game designer who has "online action game" and "open field game" experience. With Ninja Gaiden 4, a linear single-player game, looking to roll out this year, this new job posting clearly seems to be about PlatinumGames' future.

PlatinumGames Looking for a Game Designer with "Online Action Game" Experience

Currently, the only known project Platinum is working on alongside Ninja Gaiden 4 is Project GG. Not much is known about Project GG aside from it being connected to former PlatinumGames leader Hideki Kamiya's superhero passion projects Viewtiful Joe and The Wonderful 101. Even if Project GG is still in active development at Platinum after Kamiya's 2023 departure, which isn't likely considering its recent removal from the studio's website, it doesn't seem like the type of game to offer a live service open world experience based on the two games it's spiritually connected to.

There's also the possibility of a third Nier title. It's been four years since Square Enix's Nier Replicant remaster and even longer since Platinum's Nier: Automata. Fans of the series have been hungry for more, especially during Nier's 15th anniversary this year. This job listing could potentially mean Platinum and Square are looking to take a big risk with an online open-world Nier game. Considering how poorly 2022's live service title, Babylon's Fall, went over, and the fact that the large majority of Nier fans likely wouldn't care for a live service Nier installment, this doesn't seem like it'll be the case.

While there's a lot to wonder about concerning what's next from PlatinumGames, Ninja Gaiden 4 is right around the corner later in 2025, and the game is looking to round out Team Ninja's "Year of the Ninja." This began with the shadow-dropped Ninja Gaiden 2 Black remaster after the aforementioned Xbox Developer Direct, and is looking to continue with Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a 2D action platformer from the Blasphemous developers coming sometime this summer.

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