Scalebound Is Definitely Not Being Worked On, And Xbox Boss Sees Its Cancellation As A Career Low-Point

Scalebound, which was poised to be a major Xbox console exclusive from Platinum Games, was sadly cancelled back in 2017. Rumors persist to this day that the game will eventually be re-revealed, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that it is not happening, and that he regrets how things played out with the title.

In an interview for IGN's Unlocked podcast, when asked about the huge passion fans still have for Scalebound, Spencer clarifies that the game is not coming, and seems sad about the situation around its announcement and cancellation. "Yeah, it's a tough one," he says. "Because I have a ton of respect for Platnium, (director Hideki Kamiya), the team...and I have feel no ill-will. And we talk to those guys, there's no animosity between the teams."

Spencer says that he wishes he had held back on the game's reveal. "We tried to go do something, and it didn't work," he says. "And I regret that we were as public about what we tried to go do." He cites the also-cancelled Fable Legends as another example of a time when a game was shown off too early, and says that he learned a lot from both projects. "I did some learning around Fable Legends, I did some learning around Scalebound, about being public about things before I kind of know that we've got a real believable plan in something I've felt in my hands.," he says.

"We just didn't get there with Scalebound, and with the team," Spencer continues. "And I say that across both teams." This echoes earlier comments from Platinum boss Atsushi Inaba in 2019, who said that Microsoft was not solely responsible for the game's cancellation either, and that "both sides failed".

"We loved some of the ideas that we were trying to do, and obviously we wanted to ship a great game to our customers," a contrite Spencer says, before clarifying that the game is definitely not in development. "We're not working on it, I'm not at Platinum today but I'm almost positive they're not working on it. It's something we've all moved past, and it's not a moment I see as a high-point for me in my role, having to cancel a game that we had talked about for years."

Platinum Games has bounced back from Scalebound's cancellation, and has since released Nier: Automata and Astral Chain, among others. It is currently working on Bayonetta 3, The Wonderful 101 Remastered, and a new hero-based action game.

Elsewhere in the same interview, Phil Spencer talked about the impact of COVID-19 on the Xbox Series X launch, and plans to announce more games for the system.