Stellar Blade and Shift Up boss Hyung-tae Kim says he’d love to collaborate with Bayonetta developer PlatinumGames again after working together on Bayonetta-themed skins for Stellar Blade’s upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 release.
Kim joined PlatinumGames CEO Atsushi Inaba in a wide-ranging interview with Famitsu. Inaba, who became company president and CEO in 2022, calls Stellar Blade (per machine translation) a “model for game development,” praising the variety of enjoyable features and elements beyond its core action. He suggests Stellar Blade is a great example of a truly fun game, and says he doesn’t want to be outdone by it.
Inaba was notably executive producer on Bayonetta 3, 2, and the original, as well as Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. His character action experience also includes Astral Chain, Nier: Automata, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, many of which also impacted Stellar Blade. Nier: Automata director Yoko Taro previously called Stellar Blade a better game than his own.
Kim says Bayonetta is in his top three games; he gushes over its artistic and mechanical achievements. Jokingly, he says he hopes to see the series continue until at least Bayonetta 10, and offers to help design the characters for the next Bayonetta game, even if it means spending his days at the studio.
After apparently receiving quite the look from Shift Up’s CBO (chief business officer), Kim pulls back, but then makes a more serious offer to collaborate with Platinum again in the future.
Inaba plays along, but also sounds genuine in his consideration of Kim’s offer. He says he doesn’t like to say things just for the sake of it, and expresses hopes to collaborate again.
For now, Shift Up and Platinum’s partnership is limited to four Bayonetta skins coming to Stellar Blade on November 5, the day of the game’s Switch 2 launch. All platforms will get the skins for free, including an original design led by Kim himself. Inaba says the collab skins exceeded his expectations.
Earlier this month, Shift Up explained that Stellar Blade is “100% on cartridge” on Switch 2 because the team understands “the importance of physical media.”