Hideki Kamiya is still interested in developing Scalebound, after the PlatinumGames and Microsoft action game was cancelled back in 2017.
Kamiya has now founded a new studio, Clovers, and is developing a sequel to Okami. A new post on the Clovers account includes a video showing “some excitement around Kamiya’s desk”.
“He was reminiscing about the development of Scalebound while watching YouTube videos,” reads the post. “It never made it to release, but even now, he still feels proud of it.”
Kamiya is quoted as saying: “I’d love to make it again someday.😊”
He also shared the video on his own social media account, adding: “Let’s do it, Phil!”
Scalebound was planned to be an action game with a human protagonist in a fantasy world, with a sidekick dragon.
“He’s got his own headphones and smartphone,” Kamiya says in the video.
“Just like an isekai reincarnation,” a developer responds, referring to the trend in Japanese anime for stories about characters being transported to other worlds (think Spirited Away).
“Yeah, exactly! That’s the big trend right now,” replies Kamiya.
After more than four years of development, the Xbox One exclusive game was cancelled and Microsoft and PlatinumGames parted ways on the project.
That’s not the last we’ve heard of the game, though. In 2021 Kamiya publicly apologised to Microsoft for Scalebound’s cancellation, after discussing the development challenges and admitting: “We weren’t experienced enough.”
Then in 2022, Platinum president Atsushi Inaba revealed in an interview with IGN Kamiya had been “talking about wanting to work on Scalebound again for a while”. Kamiya himself added: “I’d like to appeal to Phil Spencer directly! Let’s do it, Phil!”
It seems Kamiya is once again trying that tactic to appeal to Xbox boss Phil Spencer. Will it work this time? Is Kamiya now free to resurrect Scalebound with Clovers?
Or maybe he’s just jealous that PlatinumGames is working with Team Ninja on Ninja Gaiden 4, with the backing of Spencer. Can Phil work his magic this time?
