Platinum Games outlines "new course," warns of lack of "vigor" in Japan

Platinum Games has published an open letter on its website, labeling a "new course" for the Japanese dev known as "Platinum Next".

In the missive, CEO Tatsuya Minami said the games industry was "struggling," claiming Japanese games companies have "lost their vigor."

"I believe that games exist to offer fresh surprises to those who play them. As members of the games business, we have always pursued the creation of the new, and we take pride in doing our part to support our industry," said Minami.

"However, the current games business is struggling. The 'fresh surprises' I mention are becoming few and far between, especially in our home of Japan. Not so long ago, Japan lead the world’s games business, and it was not a stretch to call games a uniquely Japanese specialty; however, now it appears that Japanese games companies have lost their vigor.

"Series grow ever-longer; original titles are on the decline. Games with new at their core are disappearing. Japanese games that garner worldwide acclaim are slipping away.

"This state of affairs deeply saddens us."

Minami went on to claim "Platinum is currently one of the very few healthy Japanese games companies," and that the studio is striving "to be the face of Japanese game studios on the worldwide stage."

He added: "We want our contributions to not only be towards the games industry as a whole, but also be contributions towards our homeland of Japan. That is the principle that will guide our company into the future."

Platinum was formed in 2006 from the ashes of Okami developer Clover by Shinji Mikami, Hideki Kamiya and Atsushi Inaba. Its since released four titles: Madworld on Wii; Infinite Space on DS; and Bayonetta and Vanquish on PS3 and 360.

It's currently making action title Anarchy Reigns, for a fall release on PS3 and 360.