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PlatinumGames has formed a Capital Alliance with Tencent

PachaelD

PachaelD

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,501
vala said:
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The news is interesting since Tencent is one of, if not the, premier service game provider operating at the moment and if a single-player type company was going to get some assistance in the global market they'd be one of the top options out there.

On that slightly different tack, I'd suggest that is one of the reasons that they broke up with Cygames on Granblue Fantasy Relink was that the publisher wanted to run it as a service game as that's been their bread and butter over the past 8 years (service gacha) and are looking to replicate with GBVS (Character pack DLC abound and lots of GBV mobile bonuses to keep customers logging in). The other is probably a direction change to something more like MH:World.
 
Armoredgoomba

Armoredgoomba

Member
Jun 17, 2018
1,093
Concerning but obviously as long as platinum stays in business and keeps making awesome action games I'm on board.
 
Luckett_X

Luckett_X

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,406
Leeds, UK
Platinum has seemed like they've been in trouble since Scalebound was axed and the quicky Activision license game farm deals ended. Couple that with whatever the deal is with Granblue Fantasy continuing without them on dev duty, and its been a long messy couple of years.

Whatever it takes to keep the lights on I guess.
 
Irrotational

Irrotational

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,137
The two key features of the deal, IMHO, given they have said the current corporate structure hasn't changed (and therefore Tencent do not have people on the Board):-

1. The amount of money relative to the existing shareholder funds/available capital beforehand
2. Re-payment clauses and forfeit clauses in the event of non-payment

We might get 1 leaked, doubt we will ever find out 2!!
 
duckroll

duckroll

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,161
Singapore
noyram23 said:
I was just messing around, I thought you replied to me jokingly too...
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But Bayonetta 4...

Luckett_X said:
Platinum has seemed like they've been in trouble since Scalebound was axed and the quicky Activision license game farm deals ended. Couple that with whatever the deal is with Granblue Fantasy continuing without them on dev duty, and its been a long messy couple of years.

Whatever it takes to keep the lights on I guess.
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As long as Nintendo and Square Enix continue to contract them I think they'll be okay for the short term. Obviously they're desperate to be able to self-publish and own some IPs for stability in the long term.
 
Lkr

Lkr

Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,510
Nephtes said:
I think it's very concerning that Tencent seemingly has a tentacle in every other game company it seems considering their supposed nefarious relationship with the Chinese government and censorship.

Hyperbole: I guess I'm waiting for the day they pull some kind of "Order 66" that turns on messages across games with that are "in support of the party" while also promoting a deep love of President Xi and removing Winnie the Pooh from Kingdom Hearts 3 by tearing up his book and scattering it across worlds...
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It's telling that this is what you fear...
 
Dyno

Dyno

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
13,256
Well, nice knowing you Platinum. Pity everything Tencent has been involved with has been the opposite of what I'd want.
 
duckroll

duckroll

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,161
Singapore
mazi said:
they co-own it with nintento. but i agree with you, if it ever gets ported it'll be published by nintendo.
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Yeah I think "co-owning" an IP is a popular way for publishers to pretend to sweeten the deal with independent developers without giving them anything of much practical value.

From a business perspective, if Platinum ever self-publishes stuff, the risk they take in that would be better put towards new IPs they completely own rather than any IP that they co-own with a big publisher who finds it too risky to continue funding. If they release the game and it is successful, for an IP they own it would add value in future if they want to find a buyer for their company. If it's an IP they co-own, they basically benefited the big publisher by taking all the risk on their own and sharing the success. In future if they want to sell the company it wouldn't be very valuable to the buyer either.
 
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
I don't think it's rocket science, people like new media, games, films etc. Tencent gets into all of this and the Chinese goverment by relation have their finger on the pulse, espicially the younger generation across media for obvious reasons, not good ones. You accept it or don't.
 
johancruijff

johancruijff

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,232
Italy
jelly said:
I don't think it's rocket science, people like new media, games, films etc. Tencent gets into all of this and the Chinese goverment by relation have their finger on the pulse, espicially the younger generation across media for obvious reasons, not good ones. You accept it or don't.
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I mean Tencent owns what almost half of Epic Games?
Have you ever heard any worry related to fortnite?
Or anything about games made in the Unreal engine?
 
crazillo

crazillo

Member
Apr 5, 2018
8,179
It shows that this constant search for a publishing partnership for your next game doesn't give enough stability for a mid-sized AA developer. I am concerned with Tencent's investment simply because China's attempts to influence discourses under Xi has reached ALL spheres of life (and very much the entertainment business) by now. Still, let's see how this turns out first. I have a slight hope that some of Platinum's future titles might be multi-plat in the future.
 
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Deleted member 42484

Banned
Apr 21, 2018
6,969
duckroll said:
Good. It's nice to see Americans uneasy about seeing foreign names in their credits and seeing foreign companies have larger stakes in their entertainment culture. That's how the rest of the world might have felt for the last few decades. Empires come and go.
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I'm not American, and it's specifically China that bothers me. Like I said I'm not the most informed on foreign affairs, but their inclusive nature within their own market kind of builds this weird advantage, I've heard the government has policies where the government can freely intervene with any Chinese company, and I've also heard labour practices/human rights are not too great. Not to mention the Hong Kong thing and basically no one politically touching it. China has some weird hold on the entire world and entire world's economy and it's just a little weird to me.

Like I said I'm not the most informed on foreign politics so I'm open for a rebuke and to be enlightened.
 
King Kingo

King Kingo

Banned
Dec 3, 2019
7,656
Atheerios said:
I can already see the day Tencent buys Platinum.....
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Subsidisation of PlatinumGames is inevitable. The one market that Tencent has yet to exploit is the Japanese console gaming market. PlatinumGames is looking for capital to self-publish and Tencent is doing whatever they can to build an international reach with their investments. If we're speaking strictly business, this is mutually beneficial for both parties.

Velezcora said:
I don't see Platinum choosing to be bought unless everyone who founded it leaves.
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I disagree. PlatinumGames has always served other publishers, them being integrated as a subsidiary to a singular parent company makes their job as developers so much easier. And with a company like Tencent who's fairly hands-off, I don't think it's a creative risk either.

Terror-Billy said:
From Software is freaking owned by a company already and you still get comments saying "yaaas I hope MS/Sony buys them. Oh the meltdowns!"
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Kadokawa owns FromSoftware. Kadokawa is one of Japan's most popular manga publishing and movie distribution company. Kadokawa also owns Spike Chunsoft through Dwango.

Thorn said:
Yeaaaah. Platinum Games and Tencent couldn't be more incompatible. I'm very nervous.
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If Tencent is smart, I think they'd let PlatinumGames do what they're already doing as they're confident enough to invest money into them. If Tencent gains a controlling share of PlatinumGames, and PlatinumGames self-publishes, it would mean Tencent having their foot in the Japanese gaming market without taking the risk of forming a new company in Japan.
 
Nome

Nome

Designer / Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,312
NYC
PachaelD said:


The news is interesting since Tencent is one of, if not the, premier service game provider operating at the moment and if a single-player type company was going to get some assistance in the global market they'd be one of the top options out there.

On that slightly different tack, I'd suggest that is one of the reasons that they broke up with Cygames on Granblue Fantasy Relink was that the publisher wanted to run it as a service game as that's been their bread and butter over the past 8 years (service gacha) and are looking to replicate with GBVS (Character pack DLC abound and lots of GBV mobile bonuses to keep customers logging in). The other is probably a direction change to something more like MH:World.
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What that Twitter user/Era poster doesn't seem to understand about Tencent is that they're not in the GaaS business; they're in the investment business. They've invested into GaaS because GaaS is what's dominant in China, and it's what they're most familiar with. It's the language they speak. But increasingly, they're venturing outside of that comfort zone.

When you make a deal with Tencent (or court any investor), they don't tell you how to make your money. You tell them why you're a good investment and how you'll be making money. If PG's next game is a GaaS MTX-ridden mess, that's because PG told Tencent that's what they were gonna do, NOT the other way around. But my guess is that they'll just keep rolling with what they're doing. Tencent (and Chinese studios in general) are more interested in talent right now, because domestic talent isn't as strong.
 

Deleted member 48201

User requested account closure
Banned
Sep 29, 2018
1,469
duckroll said:
Good. It's nice to see Americans uneasy about seeing foreign names in their credits and seeing foreign companies have larger stakes in their entertainment culture. That's how the rest of the world might have felt for the last few decades. Empires come and go.
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You rather have the world influenced by China ?
You might want to educate yourself what tencent does in China before you write this sort of nonsense.
 
Terror-Billy

Terror-Billy

Chicken Chaser
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,460
Alpha Baymax said:
Subsidisation of PlatinumGames is inevitable. The one market that Tencent has yet to exploit is the Japanese console gaming market. PlatinumGames is looking for capital to self-publish and Tencent is doing whatever they can to build an international reach with their investments. If we're speaking strictly business, this is mutually beneficial for both parties.



I disagree. PlatinumGames has always served other publishers, them being integrated as a subsidiary to a singular parent company makes their job as developers so much easier. And with a company like Tencent who's fairly hands-off, I don't think it's a creative risk either.



Kadokawa owns FromSoftware. Kadokawa is one of Japan's most popular manga publishing and movie distribution company. Kadokawa also owns Spike Chunsoft through Dwango.



If Tencent is smart, I think they'd let PlatinumGames do what they're already doing as they're confident enough to invest money into them. If Tencent gains a controlling share of PlatinumGames, and PlatinumGames self-publishes, it would mean Tencent having their foot in the Japanese gaming market without taking the risk of forming a new company in Japan.
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I mean, I know? That's why I said that. They are already owned by a company.
 
King Kingo

King Kingo

Banned
Dec 3, 2019
7,656
I genuinely get PlatinumGames passion to self-publish. All of their original works so far have been locked to other publishers.

Terror-Billy said:
I mean, I know? That's why I said that. They are already owned by a company.
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I know, I just highlighted the company that FromSoftware was owned by because Kadokawa is a big deal in Japan.
 
808s & Villainy

808s & Villainy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
42,700
Atheerios said:
I can already see the day Tencent buys Platinum.....
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Platinum would have to be selling...Tencent can't just buy them up. They're a private company

Alpha Baymax said:
The one market that Tencent has yet to exploit is the Japanese console gaming market.
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You realize Tencent and Nintendo have a partnership, right? While Nintendo benefits by breaking into the Chinese market, Tencent benefits by breaking into the US (and presumably European and Japanese markets, which Nintendo dominates the latter)
 
Asbsand

Asbsand

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
9,901
Denmark
They better stop while they can. They would be even better alone.

The last thing I want is another tragedy on my hands.
 
King Kingo

King Kingo

Banned
Dec 3, 2019
7,656
808s & Villainy said:
Platinum would have to be selling...Tencent can't just buy them up. They're a private company


You realize Tencent and Nintendo have a partnership, right? While Nintendo benefits by breaking into the Chinese market, Tencent benefits by breaking into the US (and presumably European and Japanese markets, which Nintendo dominates the latter)
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Yeah, I completely forgot about both those factors. That's on me. I guess we'll have to wait and see how the partnership develops between the two companies.
 

ImaLawy3r

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Jun 6, 2019
619
I wonder what Tencent gets on return? An exclusive or two??
 
BrickArts295

BrickArts295

GOTY Tracking Thread Master
Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,746
toad02 said:
They can finally own the IPs they create. That makes me happy for them.
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Its actually crazy that they don't a single of the games that made them popular I mean look at this:
SEGA owns Madworld, Bayonetta and Vanquish
Konami own Revengeance
Nintendo owns Wonderful 101 and Astral Chain
SE owns Nier Automata and Babylon's Fall?

I really hope they knock it out of the part with their very own IP.
 
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