Update 4: Hideki Kamiya apologized to people looking forward to Scalebound for letting them down. He said on Twitter, “I’ll work extra hard to never have to let you down like this again, so I hope you will keep watching over us in the future too.” Judging by the responses it seems like Kamiya’s health was the reason he was unable to work on the game. We hope he feels better soon and can’t wait for his next project.
Update 3: Phil Spencer has responded to the cancellation on Twitter. While this is disappointing news for many and surely a blow to everyone at Platinum, Spencer believes that the decision that was made is what’s best for Xbox gamers.
@TiC_Podcast Difficult decision, we believe result is better 4 Xbox gamers, still disappointing. Im confident in 17 lineup thats our focus
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) January 9, 2017
Update 2: As stated earlier, members of the development team needed to take time off due to stress. Shinobi602, an industry insider, now says that Hideki Kamiya himself needed time off from the project for his mental health. In addition to the cancellation, Microsoft has also pulled Scalebound trailers from the Xbox YouTube channel.
Update: Windows Central has received confirmation from Microsoft that Scalebound has indeed been cancelled. The full statement from Microsoft reads, “After careful deliberation, Microsoft Studios has come to the decision to end production for “Scalebound.” We’re working hard to deliver an amazing lineup of games to our fans this year, including “Halo Wars 2,” “Crackdown 3,” “State of Decay 2,” “Sea of Thieves” and other great experiences. For more information on our 2017 plans, please visit: https://news.xbox.com/2017/01/05/xbox-closes-milestone-year-in-2016/.”
According to several sources speaking with Eurogamer and Kotaku, Platinum Games’ action RPG Scalebound has likely been cancelled. It is being reported that the game also suffered development troubles last fall.
Microsoft and Platinum Games have been quiet about Scalebound recently, and it looks like we now know why. Eurogamer reports that the relationship between Microsoft and developer Platinum has been on the rocks since Scalebound was last shown at Gamescom 2016. Just last fall, sources say that several members of the development team had to take time away from the project due to the stress and heavy workload. As can be imagined, once they returned, development was behind schedule. Compounded with continuing problems with the game’s engine, the decision was made that development had to cease. Work on the project seems to have halted before the end of 2016.
When Kotaku reached out to Microsoft earlier today, they provided this statement: “We’ll have more to share on ‘Scalebound’ soon.”
Scalebound was announced at E3 2014 for Xbox One and PC with Hideki Kamiya serving as the game’s director. After being delayed out of 2016, it looked like it was possible that it could launch this year as it was given a placeholder release date of 2017. Unfortunately, it now looks like that won’t happen. We do not yet now whether the project can be revived by Platinum or another party.
We will update this story once we learn more.
Jennifer is a games journalist, former games journalist and PR Manager at Gearbox. They contributed 234 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: went on to write for Windows Central and later managed PR for Gearbox Software.