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Hideki Kamiya has said he’s “totally serious” in relation to recent comments about resurrecting cancelled Xbox exclusive Scalebound.

kingfey

Banned



Last week Kamiya attracted major press attention after he told IGN Japan that he’d like to open discussions with Microsoft over the possibility of revisiting the action RPG, which was planned as an Xbox One exclusive but was eventually cancelled in 2017.

“We did a lot of work on it, and it’s no use Microsoft keeping the game in its current form, so we’d like to do something about it,” he was quoted as saying. Kamiya added: “Phil! Let’s do it together!”

Asked to elaborate on the comments in a soon-to-be-published VGC interview, the newly-promoted PlatinumGames vice president claimed that he wasn’t joking about revisiting Scalebound.


I think it’s really strange because, to be honest, I’ve been in a lot of interviews since the project ended and I feel like I’ve said many times that I’d love to be able to bring it back,” he said.

“Having gotten somewhere with it, as a creator I’d like to see it to the end. And I hear fans saying they really want to play that game, which is too bad, and I want to give that to them when I hear that.”

He added: “That’s something that I thought I’d been saying, or I’d been trying to say for years now. I’ve said it in interviews before and gotten no reaction, but now finally I got a big reaction, and I was glad to see that. But no, it’s not a joke: I’m totally serious about it, yeah.”

Asked if Platinum was already in conversations with Microsoft over Scalebound, Kamiya replied: “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!”

Both Xbox and PlatinumGames have previously given explanations of what happened with Scalebound, but in recent months Kamiya has moved to take sole responsibility for the project’s cancellation.

In a video on the Cutscenes YouTube channel published in November, Kamiya blamed Platinum’s inexperience working with Unreal Engine and online features as core reasons for Scalebound’s cancellation.

Asked why he felt that he’d have better luck working on Scalebound a second time around, Kamiya told VGC he believed that Platinum had grown since its development ended.

“Nothing super surprising [has changed], just time. As a company, we’ve gradually grown, gained experience in terms of technology and more people,” he explained.

“At the time when we were making Scalebound, there was a lot that we couldn’t deliver on and that was hard for me. It was hard to fail like that. When the project went away, it wasn’t like the very next day I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to try again’. I needed a rest.

“But time passes, things change, things are different now. I’ve had some time to think and yeah, I’d like to try making Scalebound again. That’s my feeling.”

Discussing Scalebound in 2020, Xbox boss Phil Spencer shot down rumours that the project could be resurrected and said that he had no hard feelings for PlatinumGames.

“It’s a tough one because I have a ton of respect for Platinum, [Hideki] Kamiya-san, the team and I feel no ill will,” he said at the time. “We talk to those guys: there’s no animosity between the teams. We tried to go do something and it didn’t work, and I regret that we were so public about what we tried to go do.”
In the same VGC interview this month, PlatinumGames’ CEO Atsushi Inaba suggested that the Bayonetta studio would be willing to entertain acquisition talks in the future, should its creative freedom be guaranteed.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
i-am-super-duper-cereal-al-gore.gif
 

JokerMM

Gay porn is where it's at.
Platinum games would cost what, like 200 million? I'm sure it's like pocket change to uncle phil
he should just do it honestly
 

SirTerry-T

Member
Cynical bunch around here. The guys want to keep their business going and have another shot at a game they still see as having potential.
If there's a chance of someone writing a cheque to see that come to fruition, groundless pride shouldn't stop you reaching out to those you think own the cheque book.
 

anthony2690

Banned
I'd like to see the game happen, it looked more interesting/ambitious than anything else Platinum has put out.

And the world looked quite interesting too.

Wasn't the biggest fan of the MC though


Hopefully it happens in the future and sheds the Xbox one platform (as it looked like it had really low frame rate)




Low Res, but shows some more gameplay that many haven't seen before. (Village hub?)
 
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You could tell this wasnt kamiya just trolling or joking around the type of humor/ trolling JP devs do goes over the heads of alot of people most of the time add into the fact that most of these gaming publications have people that dont translate what there saying to English as very well either.

 

A.Romero

Member
Oh wow, I feel bad for him. It's like seeing someone beg to keep his job.

I hope they can bring someone that can actually manage the business side of things because I think it's what is hurting Platinum the most.
 

Lognor

Banned
ryan reynolds hd GIF


Nothing about the game looked good. And the only time anyone (pretended to) care about the game was when it was canceled. If they go back to that well I think they would have to start from scratch and completely redesign the game. Is Microsoft willing to fund that? I doubt it.

Maybe Microsoft can sell the IP to Platinum and they can pay their own money to develop the game. Same as Nintendo did with that shit game Platium bought from them.
 

DaGwaphics

Member
The game looked interesting to me, back when I saw the IGN trailer:



Could probably benefit from the current-gen graphics upgrade, maybe the new CPUs would help get it working too (I have no idea what the development issues were with it). I would want some dog fighting with that dragon too.

If it had a chance of happening communication would probably be private between MS and Platinum, them apparently putting this out there for the public is kind of weird.
 

Neff

Member
They not only announced it too early but showed it too early as well. It wasn't an enticing game during any of its public showings and looked like anything but a PlatinumGames title- slow, generic, and unspectacular. The poorly-showcased co-op aspect, which surely nobody was asking for in an open world adventure game, did the project no favours whatsoever.

Unfortunately we never got to see the flashy stuff which came later in development, notably the dual character combo system which was shown behind closed doors and was by all accounts very impressive.

Kamiya has never made a bad game and I don't believe for a second that he'd allow his dream project to have ended up being sub par. If they want to bring it back then give them a chance, I say.
 

Elios83

Member
Asked if Platinum was already in conversations with Microsoft over Scalebound, Kamiya replied: “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!”
Wow he's really desperate for money...seems like the studio might face closure unless they strike some big contracts asap or the studio is acquired.
 

Y0ssarian

Banned
Seems a bit pathetic. Microsoft flashes some heavy money and now all of a sudden Platinum wants to be seen with them. I liked Bayo, Nier Automata and Vanquish. Even if you buy PlatinumGames you don't even get Bayonetta right, because Sega owns that.
 

Arthimura

Member
I think Scalebound was more of a promise by Microsoft that Xbox would start to have it's own exclusives besides Halo, Forza and Gears, and that they would get closer to the japanese developers.

They benefitted from all the years that people waited for Scalebound, surely it contributed for some Xbox One sales. The equivalent would be if Sony had shown Horizon: Zero Dawn in the first years of PS4, and never released it.

From what I have read, there was mistakes both from Platinum Games and Microsoft. Platinum Games related to funds allocation and mismanagement, and Microsoft related to the scope of the project. It seems something similar happened to Phantom Dust Remake.

I wouldn't mind seeing Scalebound reappering.
 
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odhiex

Member
Resurrecting a canceled game / dormant project is almost always risky choice. Most of the time they didn't live up to the hype.

Unless they are making something radical on the design, gameplay and style, I would say... "please don't".
 

lh032

I cry about Xbox and hate PlayStation.
Would be funny if the game was resurrected and ended up like ass
 

llLeonhart

Gold Member
Of course he is, the man just want to eat a piece of bread, it's been months!/s

On a serious, note, Platinum is not exactly making a case for anyone to invest any money in them or in their projects.
 
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SirTerry-T

Member
Right?

It's sad to see a developer as talented as Kamiya whoring himself to Phil like this. Desperate for MS to buy them out.
He's a higher up in a company that may or may not be struggling to have a future. Are you suggesting he should roll over and just shut up shop? You ever worked for yourself? If you need money to stay afloat you do what it takes.
Pride before a fall, etc.
 

Pejo

Member
Oh Jesus, let this game die already. It looked like dog shit and no one gave two shits about it until it got cancelled.
I bought an Xbone for it...

Keep in mind this was when Platinum was at a high point in their development career. Seeing the ups and downs over the years, I probably wouldn't do the same thing now.

Still, if it can get funded and made, I'd definitely give it a shot.
 

SSfox

Member
Even if you buy PlatinumGames you don't even get Bayonetta right, because Sega owns that.

This guy created DMC, then Bayonetta, the most iconic BTA characters alongside Kratos and Ryu Hayabusa, nothing will prevent him to create another game, character and IP that will become iconic in the years to come.

For those who don't know he was also the game director of Resident Evil 2 and Okami, not "owning" IPs is not problem when you're dealing with a game dev genius of this level.
 
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This guy created DMC, then Bayonetta, the most iconic BTA characters alongside Kratos and Ryu Hayabusa, nothing will prevent him to create another game, character and IP that will become iconic in the years to come.

For those who don't know he was also the game director of Resident Evil 2 and Okami, not "owning" IPs is not problem when you're dealing with a game dev genius of this level.
And now the guy begging from money and hasn't done anything of note for years.


MS money will be better spent elsewhere. See you next Wednesday.

 

FingerBang

Member
I bought an Xbone for it...

Keep in mind this was when Platinum was at a high point in their development career. Seeing the ups and downs over the years, I probably wouldn't do the same thing now.

Still, if it can get funded and made, I'd definitely give it a shot.
Ah, brother, do I know how you feel... I ended up selling it to then buy a One X in 2019. The only game I really enjoyed on Xbone was Sunset Overdrive. I'm happy MS changed a lot since then.

Still, I think Platinum is an excellent studio, but they need strong management/leadership. I think they would be great assets for Sony or Nintendo, not because I want their games locked on a platform (especially Nintendo, with their underpowered hardware), but because they seem to be very strong when it comes to art direction and game design but suck ass when it comes to management.
 
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