Devil May Cry creator asks Phil Spencer to revive cancelled Xbox game

The director behind Resident Evil 2 and Ōkami has called for the return of a cancelled Xbox exclusive, as he reminisces about its development.

There are countless cancelled projects in the history of video games but only a few (rest in peace, Silent Hills) continue to be mourned to this day.

For some, one of these projects is Scalebound, from developer PlatinumGames. The action role-playing game, which we saw several times in previews, saw players control human character Drew, who can issue commands to a giant dragon called Thuban during battles.

The Xbox One exclusive was scheduled to be released in 2017, but was cancelled in January of that same year. There have been rumbles of a potential revival for years, but the game’s director, Hideki Kamiya, has now pitched the idea to Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer.

In a post on X, from Kamiya’s new studio Clovers – who are working on the sequel to Ōkami – the director is seen ‘reminiscing’ about Scalebound’s development in a video. The caption of the post notes how he’d ‘love to make it again someday’.

Kamiya has since shared the post on his own personal account, with the caption: ‘Let’s do it, Phil! :D.’

Spencer hasn’t responded to the post, but there has been sheepish language around the possibility of a revival in the past. Spencer was previously dismissive back in 2022, when asked about its chances, saying: ‘There’s currently nothing to say about Scalebound.’

In the same year, PlatinumGames similarly offered a ‘no comment’ on the subject.

Kamiya, meanwhile, has been very keen on the idea. Speaking to VGC in 2022, the director said he was ‘totally serious’ about bringing Scalebound back, before alluding to the idea that talks were happening. ‘I can’t confirm or deny anything, but we could be talking to Microsoft,’ he said. ‘But we could also be talking to Nintendo, Sony, Capcom, Konami, or anybody!’

Microsoft owns the rights to the Scalebound IP, so it could potentially collaborate with Kamiya’s new studio on a revival. With his team at Clovers working on a new Ōkami, however, it might be some years before it could potentially see the light of day.

As for why Scalebound was cancelled in the first place, Kamiya previously spoke about how it presented a ‘big challenge’ for PlatinumGames.

‘We were working in an environment we weren’t used to,’ Kamiya told YouTube channel Cutscenes. ‘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 also apologised to both players and Microsoft, adding: ‘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 apologise both as a creator and as a member of PlatinumGames.’

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