PlatinumGames wants to return to Scalebound, the dragon-filled Xbox exclusive it cancelled in 2017 – and has appealed to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer to begin those discussions.
Speaking to IGN Japan, Platinum president Atsushi Inaba explained that Scalebound creator Hideki Kamiya, “has been talking about wanting to work on Scalebound again for a while.”
Kamiya himself added: “I’d like to appeal to Phil Spencer directly! Let’s do it, Phil!”
Kamiya has not been shy about expressing his regret over the game's cancellation, and the develoepr has said before that that it would love to return to the game with Microsoft's permisssion.
However, Inaba made clear that this isn't an idle wish, and they'd like to reopen talks with Micriosoft about the idea:
“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 went further: "Development had progressed a fair way, and it seems pointless for Microsoft to just hold on to that and not do anything with it.”
Kamiya then switched to English to say, “Phil! Phil! Let’s do it together!"
Inaba has previously lamented that Microsoft took much of the blame for the cancellation of Scalebound, saying that "game development is hard and both sides learned lessons, for sure." Last year, Kamiya explained more about the cancellation, and apologised to fans and Microsoft.
"It was a big challenge for Platinum Games," he said. "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."
A new issue for getting Scalebound back off the ground may be an entirely different game – Hitman developer IO Interactive is reportedly working on an Xbox exclusive fantasy game featuring dragons. Given that Scalebound could be described in a very similar way, that might feel a little close for comfort.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
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Speaking to IGN Japan, Platinum president Atsushi Inaba explained that Scalebound creator Hideki Kamiya, “has been talking about wanting to work on Scalebound again for a while.”
Kamiya himself added: “I’d like to appeal to Phil Spencer directly! Let’s do it, Phil!”
Kamiya has not been shy about expressing his regret over the game's cancellation, and the develoepr has said before that that it would love to return to the game with Microsoft's permisssion.
However, Inaba made clear that this isn't an idle wish, and they'd like to reopen talks with Micriosoft about the idea:
“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 went further: "Development had progressed a fair way, and it seems pointless for Microsoft to just hold on to that and not do anything with it.”
Kamiya then switched to English to say, “Phil! Phil! Let’s do it together!"
Inaba has previously lamented that Microsoft took much of the blame for the cancellation of Scalebound, saying that "game development is hard and both sides learned lessons, for sure." Last year, Kamiya explained more about the cancellation, and apologised to fans and Microsoft.
"It was a big challenge for Platinum Games," he said. "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."
A new issue for getting Scalebound back off the ground may be an entirely different game – Hitman developer IO Interactive is reportedly working on an Xbox exclusive fantasy game featuring dragons. Given that Scalebound could be described in a very similar way, that might feel a little close for comfort.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Continue reading...
