PlatinumGames has pleaded with Xbox chief Phil Spencer to revive the cancelled action RPG, Scalebound. But will it happen?
Scalebound was first announced during a Microsoft conference at E3 2014 and was to be a leading exclusive for the Xbox One. Scalebound was supposed to release in 2016, however, it was delayed into 2017. Sadly, on January 9th, 2017, Scalebound was cancelled.
Its cancellation left many fans feeling deflated, after all, the game looked truly epic! Since that time we have been left wondering “what if?”, and hoping Scalebound would be revived.
There were rumours in 2019 that Scalebound might be making a comeback, but three years on, fans are still left waiting. However, there may be a glimmer of hope. That’s at least according to an interview with PlatinumGames CEO & President Atsushi Inaba, as well as Vice President Hideki Kamiya.
Scalebound had so much promise
During an interview with IGN Japan (translated by VGC), Inaba and Kamiya both expressed their desire to see Scalebound get another chance with the Xbox brand. “Kamiya has always wanted to do Scalebound. So, we’d like to have a proper discussion with Microsoft,” said Inaba.
Kamiya, who was the director of Scalebound when it was cancelled, added: “We did a lot of work on it, and it’s no use Microsoft keeping the game in its current form, so we’d like to do something about it. Phil! Let’s do it together!”
“It was a big challenge for PlatinumGames”
Last year, in a video from Cutscenes, Kamiya explained why Scalebound was cancelled. Ultimately, the Scalebound seemed to be too much of a challenge at the time for PlatinumGames.
“I loved fantasy worlds since I was a child,” declared Kamiya. “I always wanted to make something around that theme. This is how I thought of a world revolving around a young man fighting together with a dragon. However, it was a big challenge for PlatinumGames.”
He continued: “We were working in an environment we weren’t used to. We were developing on the Unreal Engine; we also lacked the necessary know-how to build a game based on online features. The hurdles we had to overcome were very big. We weren’t experienced enough and couldn’t get over that wall, leading to what happened in the end.”
Will Scalebound get a second chance?
We will never know if Scalebound will get a second chance. However, it’s been five years since the game was cancelled and no doubt the developers at PlatinumGames would have learned a lot from past experiences.
In my opinion, if there’s one big boss in the gaming industry that might give Scalebound a new lease of life, it’s Phil Spencer. In the meantime, Scalebound will maintain its place in our “Cancelled Video Games That Still Makes Us Cry” list.
Would you like to see PlatinumGames revive Scalebound? Let us know across our social media channels.
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Featured Image Credit: PlatinumGames