Sega: ‘We value PlatinumGames’ independence’

Sega of America CEO Simon Jeffery has spoken of the unique relationship between it and new Japanese developer PlatinumGames, assuring that it won’t be the "big bully publisher" but maintaining that the studio will be "exclusive" to Sega.

In the interview with GameSpot, Jeffreys said: "When ODD and Seeds merged to form PlatinumGames, they knew the direction they wanted to take. They wanted independence.

"They wanted to be able to make games on multiple formats, and we along with most of the gaming publishers started courting them. It just worked out that we were able to offer them the kind of freedom and independence to build the games they wanted to build."

He continued: "We don’t want to force them to do something they don’t believe in. We don’t want to force them to do something that isn’t right for the games they’re building, or something that might be right for this market but not that market. We think they’re smart enough and proven enough to build world-class games."

When asked about Platinum’s previous track record at producing quality games that failed commercially, Jeffreys pointed the finger of blame at the way Capcom is run in the West as a Japanese company, whereas Sega’s Western operations are all managed by Western people.

"We really believe that with strong marketing competency and sales competency with people who are experienced selling games in the West, we can help bring these games Platinum is building to the West and make them commercially successful as well as critically successful."