Scalebound Developer Pleads With Microsoft to Revive Canceled Xbox One Game

Scalebound developer PlatinumGames has made it clear that it still hopes to create the canceled Xbox One title. In the early days of the Xbox One era, Platinum revealed Scalebound, which was set to be an action RPG that would be exclusive to the platform. However, by early 2017, Microsoft opted to cancel the project for one reason or another. Now, over five years later, Platinum has revealed that it hasn't given up hope of properly making Scalebound one day and has now appealed to Xbox to make this vision a reality. 

In a recent conversation with IGN, Platinum director Hideki Kamiya said that he would very much still like to work on Scalebound. So much so, in fact, that Kamiya sent a message through the publication to Xbox head Phil Spencer about developing the title once again. "I'd like to appeal to Phil Spencer directly! Let's do it, Phil!" Kamiya said. 

While this might just be seen as a fun joke in the wrong context, Platinum president Atsushi Inaba made clear that the studio is being very serious about trying to revive Scalebound. "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," Inaba said. "Development had progressed a fair way, and it seems pointless for Microsoft to just hold on to that and not do anything with it."

The reason why Platinum needs Xbox's approval to bring back Scalebound in the first place is because Microsoft happens to be the license holder of the IP. Even though the game never ended up seeing the light of day, Xbox was the company that was going to eventually publish Scalebound when it would have released. As such, it is still able to dictate what happens with the franchise moving forward. Whether or not those within Xbox will actually want to see a return of Scalebound remains to be seen, but there's a good chance that the company could consider it. 

Do you think Platinum and Xbox should look to team up to bring Scalebound back? Or is the game better left in the grave? Let me know your own thought either down in the comments or you can message me on Twitter at @MooreMan12.