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Scalebound cancelled [Platinum Games and Kamiya have commented]

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Neff

Member
MS probably sunk tens of millions of dollars into this. I don't see them selling it, even it they aren't going to use it. This isn't a situation like Toy Soldiers where they hand the IP back to the devs. This was supposed to be a tentpole release, and they can't risk it potentially showing up on another platform.

Considering they were willing to cancel it at a late stage just to save money, I wouldn't be surprised if they were also willing to get something back out of it. It's a new IP, so they really don't have anything to lose by selling it off.

Then again, I doubt they'd be willing to sell it off at an attractive asking price. They'll probably just sit on it and wait for an amazing deal which will never come.

The PS3/360 era was great precisely because of the strong competition between Sony and MS.

It was great for us, but terrible for them. They pushed each other into a loss-leading war neither of them wanted, and they lost billions apiece.

Now things are quietening back down in terms of budgets, advertising, and number of projects being developed, but Sony is adjusting, and adjusting well, because they've played this game before. MS seems rather lost. The only market they've ever known, one created with aggressive, careless spending on every front, is changing before their very eyes.
 

Neonep

Member
Considering they were willing to cancel it at a late stage just to save money, I wouldn't be surprised if they were also willing to get something back out of it. It's a new IP, so they really don't have anything to lose by selling it off.

Then again, I doubt they'd be willing to sell it off at an attractive asking price. They'll probably just sit on it and wait for an amazing deal which will never come.
It does make sense for them to sell it if they have no plans for it. They cancelled the game because they thought that it wasn't profitable or whatever (I'm sure it's money related), well it would behove them to salvage the situation any which way from a financial point of view.
 
Considering they were willing to cancel it at a late stage just to save money, I wouldn't be surprised if they were also willing to get something back out of it. It's a new IP, so they really don't have anything to lose by selling it off.

I don't buy that it was simply an issue of money. If they could delay the game a year, then I'm sure they would have no problem financing that. I think it's more that there was a clash between MS and Platinum that got the project canned.
 

Neonep

Member
I don't buy that it was simply an issue of money. If they could delay the game a year, then I'm sure they would have no problem financing that. I think it's more that there was a clash between MS and Platinum that got the project canned.
It was definitely a money issue because if it wasn't then the game wouldn't have been cancelled. It was too deep in development for it to just be a disagreement between the 2 parties. Too much money already put in for it to not be the deciding factor.
 

Admodieus

Member
Both of those lists also exclude the digital games for some reason. Though Into the Nexus started only digital if I remember correctly, so why are people sharing incomplete lists? =P

I know, but the post was big enough as it was, I was trying to save room originally with the Microsoft list. Some may call it disingenuous, but I find Microsoft and Sony to be equally competent at finding and releasing good digital games. The physical release list is where the problem becomes apparent
 

Toparaman

Banned
People forget Bloodborne and Scalebound were announced at the E3.
Most people were comparing them (even though you really can't compare the two games).

They were both considered the most important games for many people, since they were new IPs.
Cancelling Scalebound, is like if Sony were to cancel Bloodborne.

That's ridiculous. Scalebound never got anything near the level of anticipation or reception that Bloodborne got. Even Platinum fans (which seem to be a smaller base than Souls fans, judging by sales) were suspicious.

I can't be arsed to dig up the Scalebound trailer threads, but I bet they were a fraction of the size of the Bloodborne trailer threads.
 

OldRoutes

Member
Its the year of the Scorpio. Xbox has no games.

bCTtJcH.jpg
 

Nephtes

Member
That's ridiculous. Scalebound never got anything near the level of anticipation or reception that Bloodborne got. Even Platinum fans (which seem to be a smaller base than Souls fans, judging by sales) were suspicious.

I can't be arsed to dig up the Scalebound trailer threads, but I bet they were a fraction of the size of the Bloodborne trailer threads.

^ this

You have to be careful though Mango...
I tried to bring this up earlier and was accused of attempting to derail the thread and was chided over the fact that "Scalebound was one of GAFs MOST ANTICIPATED GAMES"... Like top 25... Way up the list... -_-

There really is no comparison in the anticipation for Bloodborne and the anticipation for Scalebound...
If memory serves me correctly, the thread with the leaked GIFs from then Project Beast went over 100 pages with "Based Miyazaki" posts.
I don't believe anything from Scalebound has come close... Except this thread.
 

Papacheeks

Banned
^ this

You have to be careful though Mango...
I tried to bring this up earlier and was accused of attempting to derail the thread and was chided over the fact that "Scalebound was one of GAFs MOST ANTICIPATED GAMES"... Like top 25... Way up the list... -_-

There really is no comparison in the anticipation for Bloodborne and the anticipation for Scalebound...
If memory serves me correctly, the thread with the leaked GIFs from then Project Beast went over 100 pages with "Based Miyazaki" posts.
I don't believe anything from Scalebound has come close... Except this thread.

Might be because scalebound kept getting delayed and was shown way too early in 2014. If it was shown in 2015 with the gameplay trailer for single player it might have had a much bigger impact.

Also there's less footage as well for scalebound they only showed the game at E3 and Gamescom for 2015, then some new footage at E3 2016. Thats it/
 

Oersted

Member
^ this

You have to be careful though Mango...
I tried to bring this up earlier and was accused of attempting to derail the thread and was chided over the fact that "Scalebound was one of GAFs MOST ANTICIPATED GAMES"... Like top 25... Way up the list... -_-

There really is no comparison in the anticipation for Bloodborne and the anticipation for Scalebound...
If memory serves me correctly, the thread with the leaked GIFs from then Project Beast went over 100 pages with "Based Miyazaki" posts.
I don't believe anything from Scalebound has come close... Except this thread.

Thing is, no matter if you want to accept it or not, it was Gafs most anticipated Xbox One exclusive. Xbox doesn't have much more. There is Forza, Halo, Gears and the Pirates game.
Thats it. And every cancelled game is a massive blow to that small lineup.

Even if Scalebound would have turned out as the biggest pile of garbage in human history, there isn't anything that could compensate it. Especially no japanese games.
 

Nephtes

Member
Might be because scalebound kept getting delayed and was shown way too early in 2014. If it was shown in 2015 with the gameplay trailer for single player it might have had a much bigger impact.

Also there's less footage as well for scalebound they only showed the game at E3 and Gamescom for 2015, then some new footage at E3 2016. Thats it/

I don't buy it.
Bloodborne (as Project Beast) in leaked GIF format generated more buzz on GAF than anything Scalebound did in any of its officially released footage (which was my point).

I don't believe there's anything Platinum could have done with Scalebound and Xbox to have come close to the anticipation Bloodborne had on GAF...
They're different regardless of having the same profile (in terms of being AAA new Japanese IP exclusive to one console ecosystem).

Thing is, no matter if you want to accept it or not, it was Gafs most anticipated Xbox One exclusive. Xbox doesn't have much more. There is Forza, Halo, Gears and the Pirates game.
Thats it. And every cancelled game is a massive blow to that small lineup.

Even if Scalebound would have turned out as the biggest pile of garbage in human history, there isn't anything that could compensate it. Especially no japanese games.

I get what you're saying, but I don't think being the "most anticipated Xbox One exclusive" counts for much in terms of "overall anticipation".
If it was in the Top 10 most anticipated games, maybe... But it's not.
And I think that says something when the most anticipated Xbox One exclusive doesn't even crack the top 10 in the overall list...

But I do agree with you, the lack of Scalebound in the Xbox's limited 1st party line up absolutely is why this thread is as big as it is... not because so many people were looking forward to the game.
 

Papacheeks

Banned
I don't buy it.
Bloodborne (as Project Beast) in leaked GIF format generated more buzz on GAF than anything Scalebound did in any of its officially released footage (which was my point).

I don't believe there's anything Platinum could have done with Scalebound and Xbox to have come close to the anticipation Bloodborne had on GAF...
They're different regardless of having the same profile (in terms of being AAA new Japanese IP exclusive to one console ecosystem).



I get what you're saying, but I don't think being the "most anticipated Xbox One exclusive" counts for much in terms of "overall anticipation".
If it was in the Top 10 most anticipated games, maybe... But it's not.
And I think that says something when the most anticipated Xbox One exclusive doesn't even crack the top 10 in the overall list...

But I do agree with you, the lack of Scalebound in the Xbox's limited 1st party line up absolutely is why this thread is as big as it is... not because so many people were looking forward to the game.

Biggest difference Bloodborne is part of the souls type series which has garnered a larger following especially on Playstation and at the time even still playstation was on fire gamer wise.

Scalebound had a uphill battle I'll agree but it's reveal was not as hyped as it showed no gameplay in 2014. Bloodborne had a trailer with narration that straight up showed what was great about the game.

So take that for what it is. If Platinum had a great trailer like bloodborne with good gameplay snipets I think buzz would have been more broader than us few PG fans.
 

Norse

Member
Maybe ms saw that the progress was far behind what they had already paid for. Maybe some where being used to help complete the ps4 games first and it pissed MS off. And it wouldn't be the first time a dev has taken money without delivering. It happens. Sometimes a dev may take on too much and the work suffers. Or the dev's vision and the funding don't see eye to eye on the games design. Or, maybe it just wasn't interesting or fun enough to bring to market.
 

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
I have no doubt that this game would have been good. Kamiya doesn't make half-baked games.

For real, it would have come together nicely in the last few weeks.

From what I remember Kamiya sneaked in multi-unite attacks in Wonderful 101 at the last minute without even telling Nintendo and thats where a lot of the combo possibilities and combat depth came from in that game.

I dont think this game was cancelled due to technical or development difficulties (those were a factor) but mostly because both sides werent willing to compromise (Kamiya wanted to make a game about his boy and dragon where they work together for swag combos while MS probably wanted a multiplayer focused title with RPG numbers and stuff which would conflict with the tightly designed single player experiences Kamiya is known for)
 

Oersted

Member
Maybe ms saw that the progress was far behind what they had already paid for. Maybe some where being used to help complete the ps4 games first and it pissed MS off. And it wouldn't be the first time a dev has taken money without delivering. It happens. Sometimes a dev may take on too much and the work suffers. Or the dev's vision and the funding don't see eye to eye on the games design. Or, maybe it just wasn't interesting or fun enough to bring to market.

Maybe you are right and Platinum was making garbage.

But definetly, Xbox doesn't have much more. This alleged garbage game was one of the very few options available outside Forza, Gears and Halo.And if you cancel a game, you should have something that makes up for it. I don't see that.
 

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
Maybe ms saw that the progress was far behind what they had already paid for. Maybe some where being used to help complete the ps4 games first and it pissed MS off. And it wouldn't be the first time a dev has taken money without delivering. It happens. Sometimes a dev may take on too much and the work suffers. Or the dev's vision and the funding don't see eye to eye on the games design. Or, maybe it just wasn't interesting or fun enough to bring to market.

These are huge accusations for a studio who is known for delivering projects on time and on budget (their most popular game, Metal Gear Rising was made in less than a year).

On the other hand we've heard enougb stories about how Microsoft treats studios and the amount of studios they've shut down over the years shows maybe they arent the best at managing talent and projects.
 
Maybe ms saw that the progress was far behind what they had already paid for. Maybe some where being used to help complete the ps4 games first and it pissed MS off. And it wouldn't be the first time a dev has taken money without delivering. It happens. Sometimes a dev may take on too much and the work suffers. Or the dev's vision and the funding don't see eye to eye on the games design. Or, maybe it just wasn't interesting or fun enough to bring to market.

And maybe, just maybe, you're talking a load of horseshit without anything at all to back up such accusations.
 
Maybe you are right and Platinum was making garbage.

But definetly, Xbox doesn't have much more. This alleged garbage game was one of the very few options available outside Forza, Gears and Halo.And if you cancel a game, you should have something that makes up for it. I don't see that.

This is the issue for sure. If you don't like Forza, Gears or Halo then there isn't much else for you on the platform. I remember when people said this in the latter years of last gen about 360 and that argument was shot down continuously, but I don't think it's ever been more true than now.

Crackdown 3 and Sea of Thieves, games that were announced in 2014 and 2015 respectively aren't good enough, when the company motto for the past couple of years has been "Games, games, games". Fable Legends and Scalebound were cancelled, Cuphead and Below are still nowhere to be seen and all that was announced last year was two zombie games and another Forza game. If you haven't jumped in already, there's little coming that could sway you at the moment. I can almost envision the only two noteworthy software E3 announcements this year being Halo 6 and Forza 7, with the rest of the presentation revolving around Scorpio, a couple of already announced games and some multiplatform titles.
 
Maybe you are right and Platinum was making garbage.

But definetly, Xbox doesn't have much more. This alleged garbage game was one of the very few options available outside Forza, Gears and Halo.And if you cancel a game, you should have something that makes up for it. I don't see that.

You're opinions aren't fact. They're still opinions no matter how highly you think of them. There's plenty of compelling 2017 exclusive content for me in 2017. Crackdown 3 alone has me purchasing a Scorpio. That's my opinion.

And these threads are also hilarious considering Sony's 1st party support has been a drought compared to previous PlayStation hardware.
 

Bronetta

Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
You're opinions aren't fact. They're still opinions no matter how highly you think of them. There's plenty of compelling 2017 exclusive content for me in 2017. Crackdown 3 alone has me purchasing a Scorpio. That's my opinion.

And these threads are also hilarious considering Sony's 1st party support has been a drought compared to previous PlayStation hardware.

What does this have to do with Sony 1st party support unless they publicly cancelled a game years after revealing it.

Trying to turn this into console wars is cute, maybe Microsoft can learn a thing or two from Sony and The Last Guardian on how to treat your business partners and customers/fans well
 

Soi-Fong

Member
You're opinions aren't fact. They're still opinions no matter how highly you think of them. There's plenty of compelling 2017 exclusive content for me in 2017. Crackdown 3 alone has me purchasing a Scorpio. That's my opinion.

And these threads are also hilarious considering Sony's 1st party support has been a drought compared to previous PlayStation hardware.

1st party output has been better from Sony than MS. You cannot argue that.
 
You're opinions aren't fact. They're still opinions no matter how highly you think of them. There's plenty of compelling 2017 exclusive content for me in 2017. Crackdown 3 alone has me purchasing a Scorpio. That's my opinion.

And these threads are also hilarious considering Sony's 1st party support has been a drought compared to previous PlayStation hardware.

Sony has a first party game releasing this month and next month with tons more to come this year.

But Sony is irrelevant here.
 

Oersted

Member
Crackdown 3 alone has me purchasing a Scorpio. That's my opinion.

Noone has an issue with Crackdown 3 being enough for you. Have fun with it.

The issue is, again, there is not much else. There is Crackdown, Sea of Thieves, Forza, Halo and Gears.

Thats it.

Japanese games are pretty much dead on Xbox and if you don't like shooters, you have a problem. Their direct competition Playstation has better thirdparty support and better selling firstparty output and Nintendo has a big lineup of first party games to rely on.

What has Xbox? Again, Halo, Gears, Forza, Thieves and Crackdown. They need more.

Not in your case and I'm sure there are lots of other people like you. But they need growth. In games and sales.
 
Noone has an issue with Crackdown 3 being enough for you.

Yeah. i mean the gameplay hands on previews and all the gameplay footage out there make it so that at this stage i'm obviously going to buy a $400+ console for it....

Oh wait...It was announced 2 and a half years ago same time as scalebound, and we've actually seen far more scalebound footage, if a game that they have then cancelled's footage has been far more ready for public than crackdown over the last 12 months, then shouldn't that tell us the state of the game?
 

Norse

Member
And maybe, just maybe, you're talking a load of horseshit without anything at all to back up such accusations.

Just speaking from experience. It could have been any of my examples. It could have been something entirely different. Only the parties involved know for sure. But for arguments sake, MS isn't always to blame. I know that's a tough idea for some of you.

Now I'm just hoping MS has something ups it's sleeve to take scalebounds place. Hopefully we'll all hear something soon enough.
 
Revisionist history. The reveal thread was full of people who were hyped to fuck. A big budget current gen game headed by Kamiya? Sure, the art direction and main character design had a mixed reception, but people were still hyped.

We saw gameplay footage and while it did look rough, the hype was still there. I'd argue there are more people here suddenly saying "well, it looked shit anyway" than there are people who claimed to have not cared and are changing their tune now that the game is no more.

.
 
Don't take anything Kamiya says, and try to extrapolate from it. He's still under NDA. MS makes anyone they work with sign those, and when you leave the company then you do so as well.

Standard practice at tech companies.

Is this like that Dave Chappelle skit where he's on the stand about RKelly and he would need pictures, videos, signed statements, and his grandma there to believe that Platinum may be at fault here? Lol
 

Kssio_Aug

Member
Scalebound was like 60% of the reason i got a Xbox1, dammit!!!

I bought an XB1 before Scalebound reveal. But as soon as it was announced I was really excited. Such a shame... and today I played Nier Automata demo and made things more severe: Platinum still knows how to make a great action game (and Nier automata is an RPG as well).
 

RedFury

Member
I bought an XB1 before Scalebound reveal. But as soon as it was announced I was really excited. Such a shame... and today I played Nier Automata demo and made things more severe: Platinum still knows how to make a great action game (and Nier automata is an RPG as well).
I bought one because of E3 2014, a brand new Xbox. One I could get behind, good guy Phil. Yup can't blame no one but myself. Last MS console I buy on promise.
 

AtkO

Member
Wow; no need for the abrasive attitude dude.

Plus, Journey did actually get a physical release as well.

You understand what you want to understand. I just answered him, if you feel offended by the way I worded it, that's not my fault.... being blunt =/= being rude.

And yes, it did get a physical release, it's still a 2 hours long game. A "PSN game" in essence.
 
So I just spoke to my colleague (who I will keep anonymous) who left Platinum a while ago. Obviously, he/she was upset to hear the news. Over 100 people were working on the game, and he/she wonders what will happen to those people. Moreover, from his/ her perspective, the game was the biggest source of income and the main focus of attention.

He/ she wasn't surprised though, because they were worried throughout development that it was becoming a mess. People were complaining to him/ her about lack of direction (not from Kamiya, but various directors/ producers). Sometimes people would work hard on something they had been tasked with, then be told the next day that they had decided to go in a completely different direction.

My colleague got the impression Microsoft weren't happy, as they sent someone to help and that person seemed pretty exasperated with the whole thing.

My colleague also says we all need to tweet Kamiya with words of encouragement!
 

viHuGi

Banned
It's a big blow to the Xbox line up. Honestly there's a serious lack of single player story driven games. Well, exclusive ones at least. Everything is literally MP focused. Forza 7, State of Decay, Sea of Thieves, Crackdown...(and I've heard Crackdown isn't going too hot either, though nothing as bad as this).

Unless they have a bunch of first party studios secretly tucked away somewhere (which they don't that I know of), I genuinely struggle to think of what surprises they could have at E3 *as of right now*. Halo 6 is to be expected, and I don't see publishers playing ball much anymore with 3rd party exclusives unless Microsoft gives the Xbox division a huge budget to throw cash around, which I highly doubt. Their major first party IP are on a decline with Halo doing less than before and Gears 4 not selling that well at all relatively speaking (not good enough to sustain a huge studio with that many workers and budget).

What's happening now is the exact opposite of what Xbox fans seemed to want out of a Phil spencer leadership.

I remember when he became head of Xbox and everyone was saying how there'll be tons of new games, but they're still coasting on announcements from 2013-2014 and in that time, games have been cancelled, multiple studios closed including Lionhead...

As a big Xbox fan since day one, I'm not very hopeful for the future. Scorpio won't do anything without software to push it heavily.

Agreed.
 
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