Reply Game Studios: Striving to Become Italy's Answer to PlatinumGames

Reply Game Studios, a subsidiary of the large Italian corporation Reply Group, has been making waves in the gaming industry with its 2022 action game Soulstice. The studio's product manager, Samuele Perseo, discusses the game's development, which took four years and nine months to complete. Soulstice was initially released on PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X and S, but its launch on PS4, coinciding with its addition to the PlayStation Plus subscription service, significantly boosted its audience across all platforms. Perseo attributes this success to the game's inclusion in the Extra and Premium tiers of PlayStation Plus, which helped renew interest in the game on PC as well. The studio's goal is to grow its team and reputation, with the core team consisting of around 30 people and over 70 individuals working on Soulstice, including contractors and outsource partners. Perseo describes Soulstice as an AA title, heavily inspired by Japanese action games like Bayonetta, with the studio's role model being PlatinumGames. The studio hopes to emulate PlatinumGames' signature style and collaborations, while maintaining its own unique voice. Despite its Japanese-inspired aesthetic, the game is a tribute to the fantasy and imagery that Italian kids grew up with, consuming Japanese entertainment and anime in the '80s and '90s. The studio aims to bring a distinctly Italian touch to its games, while appealing to an international audience. With a long-term goal of becoming Italy's answer to PlatinumGames, Reply Game Studios is focused on maintaining its quality level, preserving its collaborative approach, and ensuring sustainable growth, both in terms of numbers and the people involved in making its games.