Housemarque Recruits PlatinumGames Dev of 11 Years as Lead Designer on Next PS5 Game

As much as I liked Returnal I was rubbish at it, so although I've bought every Housemarque title this was the one I enjoyed the least. Hoping for something with a slightly easier difficulty curve for my old-man reflexes.

Officially excited at this news.

Genius designer joins genius developer, it's a match made in heaven! Returnal is still up there as one of PS5's strongest exclusives; stellar game. Can't wait to see what they come up with.

@Dalamar What an utterly moronic statement.

Never played Bayonetta but Vanquish was one of the true gems of the PS3 era. I had no idea what sort of game it was but got it free on Plus and it had me hooked instantly.

@Dalamar all it shows is a character designed to be glamorous vs one who is meant to look practical for their setting.

@czDante92 No it was a snide remark that isn't relevant to this topic. It's also comparing an overtly sexual character (not sexualised, like say Stellar Blade, but a character who is empowered by her sexuality and has agency) to a character who is literally just an astronaut; the focus is on her being a mother and a space explorer, not meant to be ogled at.

Some people on this site really have trouble seeing beyond surface level.

@Ilyn
Vanquish is one of my favourite games of all time sadly I don’t think we’ll get a sequel to it but would love a sequel

Returnal was almost 4 years ago and I was hoping their next game was nearing a reveal, but this sounds like it might be a good way off still.

I'll need to play Bayonetta Origins to determine whether this hire is a good one.

Another Platinum veteran leaving the company. Now my comment I wrote in the earlier Bayonetta article feels kinda verified. Seriously, I'm getting more worried for Platinum's future here.

Still, I wish Tinari all the best. Housemarque is lucky to have him.

Returnal is still such a stand out for me for the PS5 generation, and my first platinum ever. It’s such interesting storytelling if you 100% it.

@Jayphex Same here, returnal and cuphead ive gave up on 🤣

With the pedigrees of Housemarque and Platinum, there's potential for creating the greatest action game of all time. Sony, please finance a Revengeance sequel.

Let me shoot baddies while ill grind those kneecaps. Vanquish is so good.

Played a bit of Returnal and I liked it, not much of a space/scifi fan. I must say I loved their previous game that we got with PS Plus in the beginning days of PS4.

Give me an action game like bayonetta from housemarque and I’d be happy

I really liked Bayonetta Origins. Lovely little game.

I was never able to get into Returnal. Might give it another go at some point but it didn't click when I first played it.

Just realised they also made Outland. I really liked that game on 360.

@captainsandman yeah thats super weird hiring a lead designer just now.
What have they been doing the last 2-3 years.
I expected them to a have a game to come out this or, at latest, next Year.

Housemarque has the gameplay right, maybe the platinum influence can also add some personality to it's games.

This is pretty rad. Housemarque and Platinum definjtely have some similar tendencies, but definitely approach action from different lenses.

@JB_Whiting

Well, if someone told me this IS the best ps5 exclusive I wouldn't say that it is wrong. Masterclass in design and gutwrenching story. Don't fear the reaper..

I'm of the idea that there will always be new talent capable of creating great games but it looks like right now Platinum Games is in a transition (to not say that it's a shell of what it once was) Kamiya and the people loyal to him leaving to form Clovers and now this director. It makes you wonder if Nintendo will be still interested in them of they will pursue to hire Clovers instead.

In the side of Housemarque I'm obviously happy. Returnal was a great first AAA game for them, they have a lot of talent when it comes to very tight gameplay so a game designer with experience in the kind of games Platinum use to make is a great addition to the studio.

Platinum's recent offerings haven't been the slam dunks they used to be, and this guy was a lead on a canceled game, so I wouldn't get my hopes up just yet like so many here. Also I wonder how far along in the development cycle their next game is if they're bringing in a lead like this. Maybe he'll be more of a tweaker of designs and the game will only have a few of his own, which is kinda what I'm hoping. Otherwise this news may mean their next game is farther out than a 4-5yr cycle would suggest.

@Vega37 he was the director of Bayonetta Origins, game that many fans actually enjoyed and I don't think it's about "hope" because Housemarque is already making good games.
This is about a developer good enough to be the director of a good game joining a good studio that is growing.

@Intr1n5ic @JAMes-BroWWWn well it doesn't mean that there is no game. It just means they are getting someone in with a knack for creating a distinct style and they'll co-ordinate the rest of the game to match the style. There might have been concepts that evolved, there might be a different game in development, my estimation is that they want to focus on combat for the next project, something PlatinumGames are known for, so they are bringing this guy in to do that.

I hope it's an arcade styled third person shooter or hack n slash. Maybe something like Vanquish, but with the graphical style of Nex Machina.
What ever it is, please, not another roguelike.
Returnal had awesome core gameplay and shooting, but the whole "die and repeat" mechanics, got very tiresome.

@Blauwe_Chimay "not much of a space/scifi fan." Vanquish is about space/sci-fy as you can get 🤣..I get your point though and vanquish is superb.

Please let 15 people on the dev team branch off to fix resogun on ps5. The co op is entirely busted and it makes me sad. Aside from Returnal, which is no doubt a bullet hell magnum opus, all their games have had amazing co-op options

I bought a PS5 during Black Friday and Returnal's been my first full-sized game after Astro's Playroom. It's phenomenal. It took me nine hours to beat Phrike and another eight to beat Ixion, so I'm not great, but I'm loving it despite the difficulty and hope I can make it through to the end. it feels so good to play; the style, atmosphere, and music are excellent; and the story so far is intriguing. I'm looking forward to seeing what Housemarque has been up to.

MadWorld's the only Platinum game I've played and whilst very stylish it was lacking otherwise. Since that predates Tinari, I have no expectations, but if it suggests an action rather than shooting game I'm excited since I tend to prefer them.

Edit: Oh wait, they also did Nier: Automata, which was great.

Returnal is my favourite game this decade, Vanquish and Bayonetta are two of my all-timers, so this will do very nicely indeed.

@tgt MadWorld is okay, but isn't representative of Platinum's true heights, namely Bayonetta (the best character action game, ever), and Vanquish (the best third person shooter, ever).

Looks like Housemarque hired him for the next game, which means the current project almost finish.

But this sounds like bad news for Platinum with their creative people are leaving the company one after another.

@Jayphex Yes, please don't be another rogue like.

Couldn't get into returnal. Though I'm not a fan of rogue likes in general.

@JB_Whiting when I first saw Selene I thought she was a product of the “woke” uglification of female vg characters, but in playing the game I could see she’s actually a brilliantly designed character. She fits the game perfectly.

Someone gets hired and somehow people make remarks that are not acceptable? How can you do that with a subject like this?

Hopefully this hire is not for the upcoming Housemarque release, but the subsequent one. Seems like a reveal would be imminent for the game they’ve been working on for the last 4 years… 🤞🏼

@Flaming_Kaiser some people got brain rot and stuck with culture war

I think Housemarque have been expanding quite a lot. They just got bigger offices too. I wouldn't be surprised if Playstation may be looking at them into a multiple project unit with two teams of 50-70 people. Apparently that's the plan with Asobi too

@PuppetMaster Probably the antiwoke crew AKA if i dont like it your woke as far that the woke has anymore weight.

Resogun 2 please... 😏 or port it over to xbox 😊