You may have heard that Sega is re-releasing the remastered versions of Bayonetta and Vanquish for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Which is a great decision on Sega’s part, by the way. However, A question that no one has been able to answer has popped up yet again. That question being, “Who owns the rights to Bayonetta“. I’m not sure why this continues to be a question, but I for one am tired of it and all the bickering that accompanies it. So I figured I’d put an end to this madness, once and for all.
While Sega published the first game in the series, with Platinum Games handling the development. Things changed with Bayonetta 2 and 3. You see, Sega wasn’t convinced that doing a follow-up was a good idea (which was a stupid idea) and the company was content on sitting on the IP. Nintendo came along and worked out a deal with Sega.
They would help fund the development of Bayonetta 2, which was already in development and had been partially funded by Sega. Nintendo stepped in to continue the game’s development continue and ultimately published the game. If it wasn’t for Nintendo, the game would have been canceled.
This is why Bayonetta 2 was previously only available on the Wii U and more recently, the Nintendo Switch. As for Bayonetta 3 which is still in production, the same thing holds true. Nintendo is once again funding and publishing the game, with Platinum Games at the helm for the development. However, it was a decision by both Sega and Nintendo to have the game published on the Switch.
Ok, that didn’t answer the question but I wanted to fill in all the blanks before proceeding. Now, I’ll answer the question. Sega! Sega still owns the trademark for Bayonetta. They have also been renewing the trademark, to make sure no one comes along and scoops it up. Now I’m sure the next thing you’ll ask is what’s the difference between a trademark and Intellectual property ownership.
Now, I’m not a lawyer so I’ll do my best to explain. They’re the same. Intellectual property has several forms, which I’m sure you’re heard of; Copyright, Patents, Trade Secrets, and Trademarks. Neither copyrights, patents, or trade secrets apply here, just the trademark.
Take a look at the Bayonetta trademark details below, which also can be found here.
As you can see, the ownership of the IP has never left Sega’s hands. I’m not sure what caused them to get cold feet during the development of the second game But they knew that preventing the Umbra Witch’s ownership from exchanging hands was a smart idea. As for Nintendo, they were a big help with keeping the dream live.
As you can see they are not on the trademark at all. Meaning that only Sega has government-approved ownership. They are the only ones who can use the name and they are the ones who decide who can also use you. So if another company wanted to use the name, designs, or concepts for Bayonetta, they need to approach Sega first.
For those who look at the various internet wikis and notice that Sega is missing from the second and third games, I can understand the confusion. None of which mention Sega’s involvement with the games, but trust and believe that Sega is still the rightful owner. They have been the only company to own the rights since 2008. As for how Sega ended up with the rights, well that’s a question that I still haven’t been able to solve. Another that has bothered me is a few years back, Hideki Kamiya has even gone on record, stating that the Bayonetta rights belonged to Sega and Nintendo. Yet again, only Sega is listed on the trademark.
All of the rights still belong to Sega and Nintendo. The rights owners decided that the game should be made for Switch. (11/15)
— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@HidekiKamiya_X) February 13, 2018
Of course, I could be wrong here. I mean, I only followed the digital paper trail and there could be some backroom deal that only a few select know about. If that’s the case, well then I apologize profusely.
So the next time someone asks “Who owns Bayonetta?“, the answer should be as clear as crystal. That said, if there ends up being a fourth game in the series, perhaps Sega will bring it back as a multi-platform game. For now, you’ll need a Nintendo Switch if you want to play Bayonetta 2, outside of Emulation, and the currently in development Bayonetta 3.
