Following Microsoft's Xbox Games Showcase recently, head of Xbox Phil Spencer spoke about how one of his favourite moments of the entire event was when Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age was announced for the platform.
"It's just an area of focus for us to make sure all creators globally feel like Xbox is a great platform for them and that they can deliver their games to a large global audience. It's an area that our team in Japan has really been working hard on."
Well, Phil, if you're perhaps interested in even more Japanese offerings on Xbox, why not consider reviving Microsoft's ambitious action role-playing IP, Scalebound? Although the original project developed by PlatinumGames is believed to be unsalvageable, in a recent interview with the YouTube channel GameXplain, Platinum director, Hideki Kamiya, and Platinum head, Atsushi Inaba, said they're still open to talking about it.
Here's the full translation:
Atsushi Inaba: We don't think that it's a forbidden topic or anything like that, we're happy to talk about it. Though, the IP does still rest with Microsoft, we do get a lot of fans still that do show interest in the title, and we're always happy to see if there are still people that are really interested in it coming out one day. The fans are thinking, you know like, there was a lot of possibilities, or a lot of cool things that looked like Kamiya might have been able to accomplish with that title, you know. And we also think, man, it would have been really nice to have that kind of opportunity, but it's not for us to say. Kamiya is just adding, if you want to see it again - please, send a letter to Phil Spencer.
Hideki tacked the following line onto the end of this in English, which was followed by collective laughter:
"Phil, let's do it again together"
Given how eager Microsoft is to crack the Japanese video game market, an exclusive IP like Scalebound from a prestigious local developer such as PlatinumGames (known for past hits such as Bayonetta and NieR:Automata) could be a great way to spike some interest.
What do you think, though? Would you like to see Microsoft give Platinum a second chance with the Scalebound IP? Do you think Microsoft needs more Japanese games in order to bring more players to Xbox? Tell us below.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 23
I better get typing and send Phil that letter then. The cancellation of Scalebound was one of the suckiest moments this gen.
Would love to see it given another go. Platinum Games combat and dragons... It has to work this time!
Right, I have my pen and paper. Who has his address??
@BrilliantBill I heard they were siphoning off some of the Microsoft’s money to other projects.
JUST MOVE ON! You’d think the Xbox doesn’t have a bunch of studios working on a bunch of games for their consoles/ecosystem moving forward with this never ending desire to bring back a long cancelled game that always received mixed reaction when shown and was likely canned for good reason.
Platinum had their chance and throw it off. If scalebound is ever to come back, I hope it does by the hand of another studio.
Love Platinum, but they just seem to struggle with actual production schedules and finances.
I think that's what caused this game to get canceled.
It always looked very rough whenever it was shown and seemed like MS forced them to add in the co-op later into the production.
I like platinum games, but it's time to let it go.
Can't be trusted and tbh the game would of probably been average at best.
Dear Phil,
Please let a reliable team finish Scalebound.
I was really disappointed when this was canceled. Microsoft needs an exclusive Platinum Games title.
I was excited about this game for awhile now not so much. It's not that I will playing if it ever comes out, just I am not going to worry about it if it doesn't there is a bunch of other great games coming out.
Not interested in Scalebound, And could not get into Dragon Quest 11.. I'm come to the conclusion that i just don't like JRPG's
@Medic_Alert
I completely agree. I didn’t think the game looked good to begin with. And with the development hell involved? No thanks.
@Bmartin001
I hear ya. I used to love JRPGs when I was younger on the 8 and 16 bit systems of old. But once I played Star Wars: KOTOR on the OG Xbox, I have just found western developed RPGs are more my style. I haven’t gone back to JRPGs since & don’t plan to.
Platinum needs to shut up and quit stirring the pot. They regularly failed to meet deadlines and didn't have a single interesting mechanic to show the public. Once. Glorified weeb trash with Beats by Dre. Nothing of value was lost.
One of the most overrated developers this generation.
As far as I'm concerned Scalebound should be left as a forgotten cancelled relic from the worst days of the Xbox One era, one bad press story after another came from it. Series X and the Xbox brand needs to look forward and on to better experiences. In case platinum didn't notice Xbox will not be starving for first party stuff going forward and Xbox Games Studios now have far more talented developers under their wing. Studios that I'm sure also won't be abusing funds.
Just let it go already. They both blew it. Move on.
While I'm not a fan of the stuff Platinum Games puts out, that wouldn't dissuade me from having their games on a system for other people that enjoy them.
What WOULD turn me off, is seeing a company with such a shady history, supposedly having screwed over the company, continue to get work from said company.
Holy moly, this looks amazing, if this gets on Xbox X its a day one buy for me.
Platinum can be messy and get in development hell.
Reflecting on the game's cancellation in May 2019, Platinum studio head Atsushi Inaba said it “wasn’t easy” to see publisher Microsoft receive criticism for the decision as he felt “both sides failed,” and that ultimately, the game “didn’t do all of the things that we needed to do as a developer.
They have trouble achieving smooth performance even in short linear games.
@BrilliantBill they decided to drop the concept because of a case of writer's block. They stated they didn't have much variety or a story and it was kind of just a repetitive hack-and-slash design like the Square Enix game Drakengard
I am all for the revival of Scalebound but the teams needs to figure out which direction to take the game.
Platinum has gone from "darling of Nintendo fans" to "scummy J-Gearbox clone" in the course of a year. Their track record isn't really great these days.
They're responsible for StarFox Zero that everybody pans Miyamoto for.
They kickstarted W101 without really kickstarting it, then didn't foot the taxes for the promised rewards.
They were presumably misappropriating Scalebound funds (see also, Aliens Colonial Marines)
Kamiya is all attitude and has had less to show for it than ever.
We're a long way away from Clover when Capcom kept him on a tight leash and he produced genuine classics.
As a retrospective Nier Automata and the Bayonetta series seem uncharacteristically high quality to the remainder of Platinum's games.
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