Scalebound was one of the most eagerly anticipated Xbox One and PC exclusives, however it was abruptly canceled in January 2017. Hideki Kamiya, the director of Platinum Games, has apologized for the game’s development.
In a new interview with Cutscenes on YouTube, Kamiya gave some new light on the cancellation of Scalebound. He aspired to create a lifelike, high-end game. As the next step in modern game development, Platinum Games needed to upgrade its graphical capabilities.
Hideki Kamiya Apologizes to Microsoft for Scalebound cancellation
“I’m sorry to the players who looked forward to it, and moreover I’m sorry to Microsoft who had placed their trust in us as a business partner. I want to apologize both as a creator and as a member of Platinum Games.”
Hideki Kamiya
Kamiya stated that as a child, he enjoyed fantastic worlds with swords, magic, and dragons. He also enjoyed classic PC games like Sorcerian and Hydlide, which inspired him to base Scalebound around a young man and a dragon fighting together.
“However, it was a big challenge for Platinum Games,” says Kamiya. “We were working in an environment we weren’t used to. We were developing on the Unreal engine, we also lacked the necessary know-how to build a game based on online features. The hurdles we had to overcome were very big.”
He says that the studio lacked the necessary competence to break down the numerous barriers, resulting in the cancellation of Scalebound. Back in 2019, Kamiya bemoaned the fact that Microsoft bore the brunt of the criticism, despite the fact that both sides had difficulties.
Hideki Kamiya is a Japanese video game designer and director. He began his career in 1994 with Capcom, where he directed Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, and Ōkami. From 2004 to 2006, he worked for the Capcom subsidiary Clover Studio.
