We talked about PlatinumGames, the Japanese gaming software house, just yesterday while reporting that Microsoft tried to buy the studio last year.
Today, PlatinumGames has made the news once again, this time in regards to a particular game of theirs: The Wonderful 101. YouTube channel GameXplain posted a video where they discussed the rumor, delivered by anonymous sources, that PlatinumGames is readying a Kickstarter campaign whose goal would be to port The Wonderful 101 to PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and possibly even Xbox One.
Truth to be told, the developer does seem to have a Kickstarter profile. Furthermore, another renowned insider, Liam Robertson, backed the rumor.
Kickstarter thing for TW101 is true. I waited for Platinum to announce it on their terms. The reveal was set for Monday.
— Liam Robertson (@Doctor_Cupcakes) February 1, 2020
Earlier this week, the official Twitter account did share an image that could be interpreted as a tease for something related to The Wonderful 101. As you can see below, the monitor on Hideki Kamiya's left has a screensaver with 1:01 as the time and 10:1 as the date. Kamiya was the game's director.
Scenes from the PG office! Who's that photobombing Hideki Kamiya? pic.twitter.com/D70oalUTKo
— PlatinumGames Inc. (@platinumgames) January 31, 2020
The Wonderful 101 launched in August 2013 for the Nintendo Wii U. It was an action game where players controlled a 'horde' of superheroes from an isometric viewpoint. The ultimate goal was to foil an alien invasion by the so-called Geathjerk Federation.
The game enjoyed a solid critical reception, but sales were low, partly due to the Nintendo Wii U's low installed base. Porting the game to current-generation platforms would seem like a good way to exploit the IP's potential and possibly to gauge interest in a sequel.
What's confusing, though, is that The Wonderful 101 appears to be a Nintendo-owned intellectual property. A Nintendo Switch port would, therefore, be a no-brainer, but bringing a Nintendo IP to Sony or Microsoft platforms would be unprecedented. Did PlatinumGames purchase the IP with the capital they recently got from Tencent? It's hard to say, but if the rumors are true, we'll know a lot more soon.