A new rumor suggests that PlatinumGames and Microsoft are in discussions about the revival of Scalebound. Reliable insider Nick “Shpeshal Nick” Baker from the XboxEra podcast revealed that Platinum is in early discussions with Xbox to restart production of the APRG. “I’ve also been told a little rumor. What I’ve heard is that Platinum might also be working with Xbox to try and bring… it’s early, like we’re talking very early now,” Baker said during the podcast. “I’ve been told that Platinum is working with Xbox again to look at bringing back Scalebound.” Baker does not know what form the new game will take and is unsure if the studio will be continuing development on the canceled project or starting again from scratch. He also said that the game is a long way away. It was also mentioned during the podcast that the information came from two different sources. Just to be clear, this is not a confirmation that the project is being revived over at PlatinumGames. The rumor specifically says that Microsoft and Platinum are in the very early stages of discussion on whether to restart development for the game or not. Microsoft owns the IP for Scalebound, even after it was canceled. This is not the first time that PlatinumGames has spoken about working on the game again, proving that the developers have a great deal of enthusiasm for the project that failed to take flight. PlatinumGames studio head Atsushi Inaba mentioned in 2019 that the studio wants to return to Scalebound if the opportunity presented itself. Game director Hideki Kamiya went as far as to mention Xbox boss Phil Spencer saying, “Phil! Let’s do it together!” Kamiya was also asked last year regarding the possibility of restarting the project and if he was in discussions with Microsoft. The game director teased, “I can’t confirm or deny anything, but we could be talking to Microsoft. But we could also be talking to Nintendo, Sony, Capcom, Konami or anybody!” When the game was canceled in 2017, Microsoft took a lot of heat for it. However, studio head Atsushi Inaba revealed that it wasn’t just the publisher that caused the project to flounder. “Both sides failed,” Inaba said about the project. To him, it was unfair that fans blamed Microsoft. “Watching fans getting angry at Microsoft over the cancellation wasn’t easy for us to watch. Because the reality is, when any game in development can’t get released it’s because both sides failed,” Inaba explains. “I think there are areas where we could’ve done better and I’m sure there are areas that Microsoft as a publishing partner wish that they could’ve done better. Because nobody wants a game to be cancelled.” It remains to be seen if the talks to revive Scalebound will bear fruit. We hope it does as the game had some potential when it was revealed, and it would surely be a nice addition to Microsoft’s library of exclusive titles if it gets revived.
