Yesterday Platinum Games' first Nintendo Switch exclusive title, Astral Chain, celebrated its first anniversary. The game launched to critical and commercial success last year, and has gone on to sell over 1 million copies worldwide, surpassing Platinum's expectations. It should come as no surprise that Astral Chain is likely to join Platinum's other franchises such as Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101, and appears to be getting a sequel, at least according to studio co-founder Hideki Kamiya.
Fans of Platinum Games' titles are surely familiar with Hideki Kamiya by now. While he has directed such genre-defining action games as Devil May Cry, Bayonetta, Viewtiful Joe, and acted as a supervisor on Astral Chain, Kamiya has also built an iconic persona on Twitter. Kamiya took to Twitter yesterday to share what titles Platinum is currently developing, including Bayonetta 3 and Babylon's Fall. However, Kamiya also included "Astral Chain 2."
The Tweet is currently unavailable, but that didn't stop it from making the rounds before Kamiya deleted it. Having verified it independently, the Tweet is also certainly real. Given Kamiya's online persona, it's entirely possible that he could have been joking to stir up excitement from Platinum's fans, however given a recent investment from Chinese conglomerate Tencent, allowing Platinum to independently produce and publish titles and the recent announcement of a new Platinum studio opening in Tokyo, it is possible that Platinum could be sizing up in order to develop Astral Chain alongside Bayonetta 3, Babylon's Fall, and Project G.G.
Late last year, in an interview with NieR and Drakengard creator Yoko Taro, Astral Chain's director Taura Takahisa was asked if he would be interested in making a sequel, to which he responded "I can only say that the idea of a sequel at this point is something I am unsure of and I do not have the current sales figure right now. But I will be very happy if the game is well received and sells well!" Given that Astral Chain has gone on to become one of Platinum's highest-selling titles of all time, it is no surprise that Platinum would like to expand it into a series.
It is also very likely that Nintendo is looking to collaborate with Platinum once again, as it published Astral Chain as a Nintendo Switch exclusive. While Platinum and Nintendo are currently collaborating on Bayonetta 3, given the companies' partnership in the past, continuing the relationship with Astral Chain as an exclusive series is likely a given. While the possibility of an Astral Chain 2 certainly isn't unbelievable, given the original title's release only one year ago, a sequel is very likely still only in the early planning stages and will not see a formal announcement any time soon. However, given Bayonetta 3's announcement at The Game Awards 2017 followed by Platinum's ongoing silence since then, perhaps an official reveal is possible in the next Nintendo Direct.
Astral Chain is available now, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.