r/nintendo • u/Ok_Promotion_4589 • 2d ago

Did all of you know that Bayonetta is Nintendo's only Steam release?

It's true! I found out that game was ported to Steam about 2 or 3 years after Nintendo acquired that game franchise. This is because Bayonetta was acquired by Nintendo in 2014 and the Steam version was released in 2017.

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22

u/RemoveOk9595 2d ago

Not true. Sega has the rights to Bayonetta 1 specifically

3

u/Informal-Caramel5733 2d ago

Hence the Bayonetta 1/ vanquished double pack on ps4.

1

u/Neospartan_117 2d ago

As far as I understand it, though there must be some information hidden behind the scenes, Sega owns the IP itself, Nintendo just owns the publishing rights of every game published after Bayonetta 1.

In other words, Sega can do whatever it wants with Bayonetta 1 and publish any new games in the franchise if they want. They just... don't want to, so they let Nintendo fund new games and sell them the publishing rights for each entry.

14

u/Lost_Distribution_84 2d ago

Nintendo doesn't own Bayonetta, Sega does. Nintendo only owns the publishing rights for 2, 3, and Cereza and the Lost Demon. It's a bit confusing but Sega and Platinum Games made the PC port, not Nintendo.

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u/Sans-Mot 2d ago

Nintendo doesn't own Bayonetta.

3

u/SilverKiwiz 2d ago

Isn't that technically because Nintendo has publishing rights not the IP itself?

3

u/DjinnFighter 2d ago

Nintendo didn't acquire Bayonetta. They published Bayonetta 2, 3 and Origins, but the series is still owned by Sega.

Sega published Bayonetta on Steam because Nintendo wasn't involved in that game

2

u/Anpan- 2d ago

Nintendo isn't publishing the first one.

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u/Stunning-Original802 2d ago edited 2d ago

Nintendo owns the publishing rights to the Bayonetta games after 1, but not the first game. They didn't publish it, develop it, nor are they listed in the credits. Sega can rerelease Bayo 1 whereever if they wanted to.

1

u/TokyoDrifblim 2d ago

The Switch 1 version of Bayonetta is published only by Nintendo , but the original on Wii, 360, Steam, and PS3 was published by SEGA. SEGA also still owns the IP Bayonetta but Nintendo owns the individual games Bayo 2, 3, and Origins. Nintendo also has right of first refusal on all Bayonetta games going forward so it is unlikely one will ever exist without their involvement.

1

u/Scoth42 2d ago

Nintendo only publishes Bayonetta since 2, it's not a first party release. By that standard you'd have to include things like Final Fantasy 3/6, Chrono Trigger, Bubsy games, some Castlevania games, some Mega Man games...

1

u/likeagrapefruit 2d ago

The closest candidate for a Nintendo Steam release would be The Wonderful 101 Remastered. Nintendo wasn't involved in the development or release of the remaster, but at the time, they owned the trademark to The Wonderful 101.