There has been a change in leadership at the popular Japanese studio Platinum Games, currently developing the upcoming Square Enix produced Babylon’s Fall, as well as Nintendo’s Bayonetta 3. In an official post made on the companies website, Kenichi Satao has announced that he has stepped down from his role as President and CEO, a position he has held for the past five years.
In his place, Atsushi Inaba has been promoted to the new President and CEO of the Studio. Prior to this Inaba held the position of Vice President, as well as Head of Development for the studio. Satao took over the reins from the previous President and CEO Tatsuya Minami in 2016. His tenure marked major changes in the way the company operated, including the move to own their own IPs and laying the groundwork for Platinum to begin self-publishing.
During his tenure Satao also opened a new studio in Tokyo, helped accelerate plans to self publish through an investment from Chinese holding company Tencent, not to mention leading the company through the cancellation of Microsoft title Scalebound. While he may be stepping down, Satao plans to continue supporting Platinum Games as an advisor.
New President and CEO Inaba was a co-founder of Platinum Games alongside Hideki Kamiya and Shinji Mikami, which they did after leaving Capcom’s Clover Studio. Speaking about the transition of leadership he stated the company will continue interest in “creating innovative forms of play.” He also stated, “As I move forward towards the new challenges of the future, I hope to provide more and more experiences for all our users to enjoy.”
As it stands currently, the plans to Self-Publish have not yet materialized though the groundwork has been clearly laid. It will be interesting to see how Inaba moves the company forward towards that goal.
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