Scalebound has been canceled by Microsoft



News broke yesterday that AAA game Scalebound by Platinum games and published exclusively for Xbox by Microsoft has been given the axe. This comes as a shock, because besides a what seemed like a normal delay from 2016, the game seemed perfectly on track. The game was originally revealed at E3 2014 as a hot new IP coming to Xbox adding to it's impressive first party line up. At this early stage in the console life cycle, enthusiast are eager to soak up any new ideas and welcome new IP into their hearts, and Scalebound was no different. It was even on my most anticipated of 2017 list.

Now when it comes to Scalebound there are a few things we need to touch on. The big one is it's developer, Platinum Games. Platinum had long been known as a quality developer, by had been flying under the radar by the wider audience. Games like Bayonetta and Vanquish showed off their talents, and gathered them a niche audience. As bigger publishers caught wind of all the good vibes this team was getting they started getting work from all over the industry. From doing two first party game with Nintendo to numerous well established IP and creating downloadable games with Activision, and then finally teaming up with Microsoft for Scalebound. Out of all these games we started to see a range of quality and it wasn't all good. When Scalebound was announced it looked so good that the assumption was they were putting their A-team on it, but with the games they've been putting out I've been starting to doubt, as I'm sure others have what even the quality of their A-team really was. Sadly we might not ever find out when it comes to this title.



At this point no one is sure where the fate of Scalbound lies, all we really know if Microsoft is no longer involved. When it comes to pricey new IP it's typical for the publisher to front all the money as it pushes their product, but with Microsoft no longer writing checks, does this open up the possibility for Platinum to shop this game around? Or maybe use what they have done on this game, and transform it into something new. But it could come down to Microsoft just sealing away every part that is theirs in a deep safe in the basement of their head quarters. Having the game resurface is not unheard of, it actually just happened with another title that was being spearheaded by Sony called Rime. Early last year it was announced that Sony was dropping publishment of the title, but Tequila Works the dev on the game has been able to bring it back and now Rime is set to come out this May on all current gen platforms. So we will have to take the wait and see approach when it comes to Scalebound, but my money is sadly on we will never see it again.

I love getting new and interesting ideas, so I'm really sad to see this one get canceled. Like I said it was on my 2017 list just on sheer curiosity fact. Hopefully Microsoft can fill in the gap that is going to be left by Scalebound, I know a lot of people who saw it as a big reason to own a Xbox in a time where the two big consoles are almost identical. Let me know if you are upset by this cruel news, or if you maybe didn't even see any hope for this one.

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