Hideki Kamiya, the executive producer of Bayonetta 3, has once again thanked Nintendo for helping the game become a reality in a new interview with Famitsu. This interview comes in light of the ongoing conflict with Bayonetta’s former voice actress, Hellena Taylor. It’s also the first official comment Kamiya has made regarding the game since Platinum Games issued a statement about the controversy.
After its debut in 2009, Bayonetta developed a solid fanbase and went on to release an equally successful sequel. However, the beloved series would’ve been a one-off without the help of Nintendo after Sega canceled the initial development due to company-wide issues. She would later appear as a Super Smash Bros. 3 character and remains one of the franchise’s most popular characters to date. It’s been 8 years since the release of Bayonetta 2 and despite the controversy surrounding the original Bayonetta voice actress Hellena Taylor’s call to boycott the game over alleged low pay by the developers, the game has managed to thrive.
Previously, Kamiya has released comments thanking Nintendo, saying that he was thankful for the company helping “kick off this project.” Now, Famitsu sat down with Kamiya and Nintendo producer, Makoto Okazaki, to talk about Bayonetta 3 where the two elaborated a little more on the game's origin. Kamiya stated that he was “really happy” that Nintendo gave the team the chance to make the third sequel and went on to say: “I’m not exaggerating when I say I’m forever indebted to Nintendo.” Kamiya also sent a “passionate video message” to Nintendo that Okazaki describes as “the final push that made this game into a reality.”
Though the Bayonetta series didn’t get its official start on a Nintendo console, the company did fund the first game’s release on the Wii U. Also, the first two Bayonetta games were ported exclusively to the Nintendo Switch back in February, further expanding the franchise’s fanbase to a new audience. It appears that despite the Bayonetta voice actress controversy, a lot of positivity has spawned since Bayonetta 3’s release.
It has certainly been a wild ride for the Bayonetta franchise in recent months. Even though the conflict with Taylor is still ongoing, fans have enjoyed what Bayonetta 3 has offered in terms of story and overall gameplay. Fans have also welcomed and praised Jennifer Hale’s voice-acting work for Bayonetta and sent her positive comments and support via social media. Kamiya’s latest interview didn’t really shed any new light on how the voice actress controversy could be resolved, but it did show just how grateful Platinum Games is for Nintendo stepping in to save the day. It will be interesting to see if this new interview also possibly foreshadows the continuing business collaboration between Nintendo and Platinum Games and possible future Bayonetta sequels.
Bayonetta 3 was released exclusively for Nintendo Switch on October 28.
Source: Famitsu (via Nintendo Everything"