Scalebound was a bit of a tragic tale for Platinum Games. The company was working together with Microsoft for an exciting exclusive project for the Xbox One, with a huge scale and scope beyond previous Platinum projects. This was a chance for Platinum Games and its director Hideki Kamiya to create something beyond what they had been able to create in the past. There was palpable excitement for this Action-RPG and even if it’s showing at E3 2016 was a little rough around the edges, there was confidence in the project’s potential… until it was canceled in January 2017. However, despite this, the game may not be entirely dead, if rumors that Nintendo is stepping in to fund development on Scalebound are to be believed…
According to a new report from Nintendo Insider, citing insider sources, Scalebound could be set for a return as a Nintendo Switch exclusive after Nintendo picked up the project. Although the knowledge that the IP for Scalebound is owned by Microsoft would, in theory, make this an impossibility, it’s more likely than you would perhaps expect. The trademark for the name has been abandoned by Microsoft (although the company would still own previous assets developed for the title), and a surprisingly close relationship has been formed between Microsoft and Nintendo in spite of their respective roles as rival console manufacturers. Not only that, Nintendo themselves have formed an incredibly close relationship with Platinum Games, who is now working on multiple projects for the company, including Bayonetta 3 and the newly-announced Astral Chain. In fact, Bayonetta 2, a previous Nintendo and Platinum Games collaborative project, only existed because Nintendo rescued the games’ development after SEGA decided to end production on the title.
Could Scalebound actually return and see the light of day once again? I’m not too sure, and it would take a lot of restructuring of the project to ensure it could run on the comparatively weaker Nintendo Switch. Stranger things have happened, however, and it would certainly be a welcome announcement was it to be revived. The game looked fun, exciting and unique, and would be a welcome addition to Nintendo’s lineup for the Switch. I do feel, if this were to happen, the news could still be a while off, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on in any case.