Platinum Games' Scalebound was a particularly ambitious project for the team, but it eventually proved to be too ambitious, as the game was cancelled due to development issues. Microsoft took the brunt of the blame, but according to Atsushi Inaba, the team is at fault as well.
Speaking with VGC, the Platinum Games studio head stated that it wasn't easy seeing Microsoft taking most of the blame for the game's cancellation, as both sides failed.
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.
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.
Atsushi Inaba also addressed the rumors of a possible revival of the game on Nintendo Switch, saying that there are no plans for it. As already revealed earlier this year, Inaba also reiterated that the IP is owned by Microsoft, so a Switch release is extremely unlikely, in case the game is indeed revived.
Scalebound was officially cancelled on January 2017. Some of the concepts behind the game seem to have been tweaked for Astral Chain, a Nintendo Switch exclusive game launching this August worldwide.
The Ark: A massive, prosperous, multicultural city. But disaster strikes when mysterious dimensional gates appear, bringing dangerous alien creatures to the Ark to attack the people and corrupt the land. The Ark police form a special task force, known as Neuron, to face the alien threat head-on. Humanity’s last chance against invasion is a special living weapon called the Legion. As a rookie Neuron officer, you and your Legion will work together to solve cases and save humankind. Astral Chain gives you full control over two characters at once for thrilling Synergetic Action, courtesy of PlatinumGames. Switch between several Legion types and skills to save the world your way.
