IGN has published a lengthy interview with Bayonetta director, Hideki Kamiya, about a range of things, for now we are focussing on the Bayonetta portion of the interview. Kamiya told the site that the team’s core values is to “make games for players” and as the Bayonetta series continues to mature he says that he’s noticed some fans wanting it to go into slightly different directions that aren’t necessarily what the team has in mind. He said that series will continue to go in the direction that they have envisioned.
Kamiya also told IGN that he can not see the Bayonetta series concluding as he says it is way to much like a personal love affair for him and that he plans to continue working away on the series and perhaps branch into more intriguing spin-offs. His passion for the franchise clearly shows no signs of abating and says that he wants to continue “to depict the extensive world of Bayonetta that is inside my head.” Here’s what he had to say:
“One of our most basic values at PlatinumGames is that we make games for players. However, I’ve started to notice that as a series like Bayonetta and other game series go on, what players want has started to diverge from what its developers are putting out. Even then, we can’t just add whatever a simple majority of players want into our games. I’ve always believed that developers need to have their own convictions as creators when they make games, but I’ve started to feel that more than ever.”
“Taking the Bayonetta IP as an example, while I have a structure in mind for where the story is going to go far into the future, players are only able to pass judgment on the story that they have at the moment. They’ll say things like the series is going to end because the creators have no love for it. I want people to know that’s obviously not how it is.”
Kamiya: “I personally can’t conceive the Bayonetta series ever ending. I want to make a Bayonetta 4 and Bayonetta 5, and I intend on pitching them to the company. We often talk internally about how we could make nine of them. I want people who love the Bayonetta series to believe me when I say: ‘I’m not going to do anything that will betray the players’.”
Kamiya: “I would like to make spin-offs. It’s an established part of the character Jeanne that she also works as a superhero named Cutie J. I’d even like to make a spin-off for that. Keeping the Bayonetta series going is of the utmost importance to me, so I’m not fixated on what numbers are attached to a game’s title. I want to be able to depict the extensive world of Bayonetta that is inside my head.”