Looking forward to Xbox’s large treasure chest of exclusives? Well, it may be down one shiny gem. Rumors have begun circling that the long awaited title Scalebound, by Platinum Games, has been canceled. The first mention of the troubled action game came from the mouth of Kotaku, stating that several sources highlighted issues with the games development and its imminent cancellation. A red herring appeared as Scalebound was removed from the official Xbox website. And then, shortly after, Scalebound’s fate was seemingly sealed. Microsoft officially confirmed that development on platinum Games ambitious title had ended.
“After careful deliberation, Microsoft Studios has come to the decision to end production for Scalebound. We’re working hard to deliver an amazing lineup of games to our fans this year, including Halo Wars 2, Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, Sea of Thieves and other great experiences.”
It is unknown whether Microsoft owns the Scalebound I.P. or whether Platinum Games could independently resume work on the project. The current relationship between Microsoft and the Japanese developer is unknown. Scalebound was a hack and slash action game akin to many of the studio’s previous titles. You played as dragon tamer Drew. From the limited amount of gameplay we were exposed to, we saw that the player would fight against hordes of soldiers and giant insect-like creatures, using a sword, a bow, and their enormous dragon companion. The player would form a relationship with their dragon similar to that of Trico in The Last Guardian. There were also RPG elements in the form of customizing your dragon to fit your play style and co-op opportunities to fight alongside other players and their dragons.
Scalebound was announced at E3 2014 as an Xbox One exclusive and set to release during the holiday period of 2016. It was then delayed until 2017 by Platinum, “in order to deliver on our ambitious vision and ensure that Scalebound lives up to expectations.” For more on canceled games and Xbox exclusives, stay tuned to Thenerdstash.
