PlatinumGames finally showed Babylon’s Fall and it’s a ‘live service game’

PlatinumGames’ Babylon’s Fall is being developed as a live service game, publisher Square Enix revealed on Sunday.

The news was confirmed in a developer interview released alongside fresh footage of the title (above), which was receiving its first public showing since December 2019.

It was also announced that the game will be released for PS5 alongside the previously confirmed PS4 and Steam versions.

“The game is developed as a live service title”, Square Enix producer Junichi Ehara confirmed in a Babylon’s Fall developer interview (below). “Even after release, we plan to regularly provide new content.”

Square Enix also said Babylon’s Fall “will feature a range of post launch game modes at no additional cost”. The game can be played solo or in co-op online multiplayer for parties of up to four players.

“You could simplify the concept of the game to enjoying the hack and slash genre with Nier: Automata’s fluid action-based gameplay,” said producer Ehara.

Square Enix has also opened sign-ups for a closed beta for PS4, PS5 and Steam. The closed beta test will be split into three phases, each of which will have different testing goals, and additional platforms will be added at each phase.

Described as “a new challenge” for Platinum, the PS4 and PC action title was first revealed via a teaser trailer in June 2018.

Publisher Square Enix then released the first full Babylon’s Fall trailer in December 2019, when it said it planned to reveal more information about the game this summer, but Platinum later confirmed that would not be the case and the game hasn’t been seen since.

PlatinumGames opened a new Tokyo studio last year to lead the company’s expansion into the games as a service market.

Further reading

PlatinumGames’ Tokyo studio to develop live service games for consoles

"We’re looking to expand into new genres and styles of play," says studio head Inaba

“This isn’t a simple physical expansion. It represents a step towards a new challenge for us: Console live ops game development,” PlatinumGames studio head Atsushi Inaba said at the time.

“So far, the name PlatinumGames has been nearly synonymous with single-player action games. But going forward, we’re looking to expand into new genres and styles of play.

“One of these new challenges for us is console live ops game development. These aren’t games we’d work on until they were done, and that’s all – rather, we’d continue working on them to provide new content long after release. We want to explore this ongoing development pattern in the home console space.”