This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/gamingleaksandrumours by /u/jakkone16 on 2025-01-22 23:30:23+00:00.
Hello,
I hope you are well.
I'm going to make this very short and clear : I had the chance to meet someone who previously worked at Platinum Games, and I can share a lot of intriguing information. All I can tell you is that the information I got dates from before winter 2024 and that it's a condensed transcript of a conversation I had with this person in Japanese (I am fluent in Japanese, but it’s not my native language).
I will NOT provide any additional information about the source. I’d rather be heard by just five people, regardless of how doubtful my statements might sound, than put myself and my interlocutor in serious problems. Almost all the information I have to share with you concerns Astral Chain 2.
The project for a sequel to Astral Chain was quickly mooted in the studio, and pre-production of the project was launched early 2021, but it very VERY quickly came up against a number of internal problems. Most of the people working on the project were required to work on other things ( notably two games that were in development hell at this time, no further info on that ), which meant that the project stagnated for a very long time, at least 6 months without any progress.
To make matters worse ( don't know if this is still true today ), the studio started to have serious money problems and had to make major budget cuts at all levels, for example the human resources department was deprived of lighting for few MONTHS.
But fortunately in 2022, thanks to Hideki Kamiya the project was finally able to get back on track and go into full development at the same time as Steel Colossus ( I don't know if this game is still alive ) thanks to substantial investment from third-party companies.
The team behind the game was basically the same as in the first game, with a few exceptions like the chara designer who was another mangaka but I won't mention his name so to not get him into trouble.
But very quickly (still in 2022), a sales representative from Nintendo will settle into the studio. After several months, major disagreements will begin to emerge between the key decision-makers and Kamiya, ultimately leading to his departure from the studio the following year.
Nintendo themself reboot Astral Chain 2 project after significant delays and money being recklessly spent by Platinum Games. I don’t know if this was always the case, but from that point onward, the game was planned as a title for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Now, I will share all the information I have about the game. WARNING: This information dates back to before its reboot in June 2023:
- The game was intended to be a direct sequel to the first, featuring the same protagonists (with the option to transfer save data from the first game for customization).
- The main antagonist was planned to be a wealthy businessman with a robotic/legion arm named Maxwell (マクスウェル様).
- The game was supposed to feature branching paths, leading to radically different chapters. I dont know whether this also meant multiple endings.
- One of the early levels (not the first but among the first) was set to take place on an aircraft carrier off the coast of the city.
- Among the new Legions, there was to be an angel with blade-like wings and a tiger/sphinx-like creature. Players would have been able to temporarily fuse their Legions with elemental powers (fire, water, earth, air). A small selection of the Legions from the first game was planned to make a return.
- Several adaptive shader technologies, which were somewhat experimental, were in development.
- The feature allowing two-player gameplay was planned to return but with greater depth.
- The game's story wasn’t even completed during this phase of development, but discussions about a third installment were already taking place.
I have no news about the game after its reboot, but it’s far from reassuring.
All I know is that Platinum was engaging in discussions to retain the game’s development, as Nintendo was threatening to hand the project (or part of it) over to another external studio they were in contact with. Unfortunately, I have no further details on this matter.
Thank you for reading this far. That’s all I know about the game.
The situation at Platinum Games is truly dire, and I wouldn’t be surprised if, in a few years, we start seeing people speaking out publicly about what’s been happening.
Have a good day. I will delete my account in the next couples of hours.