Scalebound first surfaced during Microsoft’s E3 showcase back in 2014, promising to transport players to a hostile world where - in the role of a cocky teen with a massive sword - they’d take on enormous creatures, with a little help from their dragon pal. The following year bought first gameplay footage of the Xbox One exclusive action title, alongside a “holiday 2016” release date. Sadly that launch never came to pass, and 2017 saw Microsoft breaking the news that production on Scalebound had ceased - with both Xbox boss Phil Spencer and Platinum having independently shouldered the blame for the sequence of events that lead to the games cancellation in the year’s since. Yet the dream of Scalebound clearly hasn’t died at Platinum, and in a new interview with IGN Japan, Platinum president Atsushi Inaba revealed that Scalebound creator Hideki Kamiya “has been talking about wanting to work on Scalebound again for a while.” This isn’t the first time Inaba has spoken of the studio’s desire to resurrect the franchise either, having told Eurogamer.pt in 2020 that while the Scalebound IP was 100% owned by Microsoft, “it’s something we would love to return to” if the opportunity ever arose. And back in the present day, Inaba insists Platinum is entirely genuine in its claims, telling IGN, “Often in an interview you might hear a developer politely saying, ‘Yes, if we had the opportunity we’d love to work on that again’, but we don’t mean it that way. Both Kamiya and I are serious - we really would love to work on Scalebound again. I’d like to discuss it with Microsoft properly.” Kamiya, also present, added that “development had progressed a fair way, and it seems pointless for Microsoft to just hold on to that and not do anything with it”. And for Xbox head Phil Spencer (who previously described Scalebound as “something we’ve all moved past”), Kamiya offered the rallying cry of, “Phil! Phil! Let’s do it together!”. Only time will tell if Platinum gets its wish with Scalebound, but while the studio waits for word from Microsoft, it has plenty to keep itself occupied. Alongside the eagerly awaited Bayonetta 3 - due to launch on Switch this year - it’s also working on the imminent Babylon’s Fall for Square Enix, shoot-em-up Sol Cresta, and a mysterious project known only as Project G.G.
