Remember that Agni's Philosophy demo? That was co developed by Crystal Dynamics and SE's CGI department Visual Works along with several Japanese leads and the Luminous engine is built on top of Eidos' tech base (both Crystal Dynamics’ Crystal Engine and IO Interactive’s Glacier 2 engine) so it's clear that they have been preparing to use Eastern and Western collaboration for some time. And considering the development issues Japan has had this generation on consoles I can see how a Japanese led Western production probably is seen as good direction for them. Especialy given that they want to release games more frequently, by getting their western studios to do the grunt work for every other entry would certainly help.
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