PlatinumGames turns an April Fool’s joke into a real game

How do you follow up on an April Fool’s Day gag that broke the hearts of old-school arcade fans around the world? If you’re the legendary PlatinumGames developer, the answer is to make this joke a reality. Exactly one year after the teasing Sun ridge, the studio announced that the game is “now in development” and plans to release it later this year on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC (via Polygon).

The game will continue the decades-old Cresta shoot’em up series. The first title in the franchise came out in 1980 and spawned several sequels over the years. You can play two of these, Moon crest and Terra Cresta, through the Arcade Archives collection on PlayStation 4. Lest you still think this is a cruel joke from Platinum, Hamster Corp., the company that helps co-develop the title, has filed a logo mark last month. By Gematsu, a South Korean regulator also recently assessed the game.

Today’s announcement is the latest milestone in an ongoing promotional campaign that PlatinumGames has dubbed Platinum 4. Previous disclosures included a remaster of The wonderful 101 and a new original IP code name Project GG. The studio is now teasing another announcement for later in the year.