Here's how IPs that were fully funded and published exclusively by a console manufacturer wind up being ported to other platforms.
Let me tell you, here's the trick, in all its mystery and magnificence.
Are you ready?
They let it.
It's that simple folks. A conversation is had and a decision is made. That decision is more often than not ''no, this is ours, go away''. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes the reasoning is a bit all over the shop and the specifics are a bit complicated, but that's all it takes. Really, that's it. The company that owns the property says ''okay you can do this now''.
If Platinum proposed to Nintendo that they should fund The Wonderful 101 on Switch, and Nintendo gave them a hard no, a conversation opened up on what else could be done.
Nintendo is beholden to one company and one company only; themselves. Maybe they care so much about it despite also not giving a fuck that they say ''hey you guys can find a way to publish it to Switch BUT ONLY SWITCH BECAUSE WE OWN IT, but we wont pay for it soz''. Or maybe they say ''yeah cool whatever we'll sign the rights back over to you because we see exactly big fat fucking zero value in this franchise and literally don't give a shit about even owning it any more''.
Anything is possible. Literally anything. Because Nintendo own it, and they dictate what is possible. They can keep it, they can give some wiggle room, or they can fuck the entire thing off into the aether.
You see Mario and Mario Kart on mobile devices not owned by Nintendo because they, the owners of the IPs, decided to do so.
Nintendo could stick Breath of the Wild on PC if they wanted to.
Nitnendo could talk to Sony and have Naughty Dog make Super Mario Sunshine 2 exclusively for PlayStation 5, if they wanted to.
They wont, obviously, because that's dumb as shit. But you get my point. If Nintendo owns a contract or license or whatever else it doesn't guarantee anything other than their ability to make the final call. More often than not yes, that final call is the property owner holding all the cards and letting nothing go. But they're just as within their power to relinquish authority, too. Because they have the ability to do so.
As for Bayonetta? Since people still don't seem to fucking get it.
Bayonetta, the intellectual property, is owned (AFAIK) by SEGA. SEGA own it because they funded the first game. They technically hold the license 'to the franchise'.
This does not necessarily give SEGA totalitarian control over literally every little fucking thing made under the franchise. But it does make them the gatekeeper.
Bayonetta 1 belongs to them. They can do whatever the fuck they want with it.
Bayonetta 2 was going to belong to them. But they pulled the plug mid development. Nintendo cleaned up the rest of the dev and published it. Bayonetta 2 is co-owned, unless something in the contract specifies otherwise.
Bayoentta 3 is owned by Nintendo. Because they're funding the entire goddamn thing, not like Bayonetta 2 that was partially funded by SEGA.
SEGA still owns the IP. But this does not mean SEGA can go ''fuck you Nintendo Bayonetta 3 is now on Stadia''. Because Nintendo own Bayonetta 3, the product in of itself.
SEGA can however go ''we're funding Bayonetta 4 developed by Kojima Productions for Stadia'', if they really want to, unless I'm missing something in the IP ownership.
So yeah, you could get Bayonetta 2 and 3 on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. It's absolutely possible. Send an email to [email protected], or [email protected] for the US branch, and see if they feel like permitting it.
''Ask Your Mum'', the national anthem for New Mankind.
Let me tell you, here's the trick, in all its mystery and magnificence.
Are you ready?
They let it.
It's that simple folks. A conversation is had and a decision is made. That decision is more often than not ''no, this is ours, go away''. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes the reasoning is a bit all over the shop and the specifics are a bit complicated, but that's all it takes. Really, that's it. The company that owns the property says ''okay you can do this now''.
If Platinum proposed to Nintendo that they should fund The Wonderful 101 on Switch, and Nintendo gave them a hard no, a conversation opened up on what else could be done.
Nintendo is beholden to one company and one company only; themselves. Maybe they care so much about it despite also not giving a fuck that they say ''hey you guys can find a way to publish it to Switch BUT ONLY SWITCH BECAUSE WE OWN IT, but we wont pay for it soz''. Or maybe they say ''yeah cool whatever we'll sign the rights back over to you because we see exactly big fat fucking zero value in this franchise and literally don't give a shit about even owning it any more''.
Anything is possible. Literally anything. Because Nintendo own it, and they dictate what is possible. They can keep it, they can give some wiggle room, or they can fuck the entire thing off into the aether.
You see Mario and Mario Kart on mobile devices not owned by Nintendo because they, the owners of the IPs, decided to do so.
Nintendo could stick Breath of the Wild on PC if they wanted to.
Nitnendo could talk to Sony and have Naughty Dog make Super Mario Sunshine 2 exclusively for PlayStation 5, if they wanted to.
They wont, obviously, because that's dumb as shit. But you get my point. If Nintendo owns a contract or license or whatever else it doesn't guarantee anything other than their ability to make the final call. More often than not yes, that final call is the property owner holding all the cards and letting nothing go. But they're just as within their power to relinquish authority, too. Because they have the ability to do so.
As for Bayonetta? Since people still don't seem to fucking get it.
Bayonetta, the intellectual property, is owned (AFAIK) by SEGA. SEGA own it because they funded the first game. They technically hold the license 'to the franchise'.
This does not necessarily give SEGA totalitarian control over literally every little fucking thing made under the franchise. But it does make them the gatekeeper.
Bayonetta 1 belongs to them. They can do whatever the fuck they want with it.
Bayonetta 2 was going to belong to them. But they pulled the plug mid development. Nintendo cleaned up the rest of the dev and published it. Bayonetta 2 is co-owned, unless something in the contract specifies otherwise.
Bayoentta 3 is owned by Nintendo. Because they're funding the entire goddamn thing, not like Bayonetta 2 that was partially funded by SEGA.
SEGA still owns the IP. But this does not mean SEGA can go ''fuck you Nintendo Bayonetta 3 is now on Stadia''. Because Nintendo own Bayonetta 3, the product in of itself.
SEGA can however go ''we're funding Bayonetta 4 developed by Kojima Productions for Stadia'', if they really want to, unless I'm missing something in the IP ownership.
So yeah, you could get Bayonetta 2 and 3 on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. It's absolutely possible. Send an email to [email protected], or [email protected] for the US branch, and see if they feel like permitting it.
''Ask Your Mum'', the national anthem for New Mankind.
