From a very unique take on bounty hunting to cool takes on espionage, several excellent ideas have been buried by their studios, with a variety of factors coming into play that didn’t let them see the light of day. We’re taking a look at a few that we would have loved to play, but sadly never got the chance to.

Let’s dive right in.

1. Crackdown 3

While its Wrecking Zone multiplayer mode drew heavily on Microsoft’s bold idea to bring cloud computing to the Xbox One, Crackdown 3 didn’t really catch on the way it should have, despite being a lot of fun. The final product was sadly nowhere close to the high bar that was set for it, with the result being a very destructible city that was largely devoid of the players it was meant to host.

The dream of entire city blocks collapsing in front of you with your console handling core tasks and the cloud rendering all of the destruction just didn’t materialize, and the game suffered for it as a result.

2. Project Milo

This was a tricky one for a long time, with a lot of back and forth about whether it was actually intended to be made into a game taking place between its creators and Microsoft. Still, it would have been cool to see a game with AI actively responding to you and acting on your voice commands.

This was a relationship sim that could have been quite innovative for its time, but it simply faded away into the background amid all the noise surrounding its “release”.

3. Star Wars 1313

We’d be lying if we said that this one didn’t sting a little. For starters, it was supposed to have Boba Fett as its frontman with a fast-paced gameplay loop that relied on gadgets and more traditional weapons in lieu of lightsabers and The Force. As if that wasn’t enough, it was purported to emulate Star Wars Bounty Hunter while bringing a gritty, darker tone to its story.

Sadly, LucasArts never got to make this one a reality, and we never got to explore District 1313 and see what the underbelly of Coruscant had to offer.

4. Silent Hills/PT

A Silent Hill title that was going to feature a collaboration between Hideo Kojima and filmmaker Guillermo del Toro (whose horror credentials are quite well known), with Norman Reedus playing its protagonist, sounds like a dream, right? That’s sadly all it was to most of the gaming world, with Konami pulling its playable demo from the PlayStation Store shortly after its cancellation.

All we can do is look back fondly at the supernatural time loop being brought to the table, and of course, shudder at the thought of Lisa constantly lurking out of sight just waiting to jump at us. A Playable Teaser was all this one was ever going to be in the aftermath of Kojima’s exit from Konami.

5. Prey 2

Aside from the obvious draw of an amnesiac protagonist affected by the presence of The Sphere from the first game, the chance to be a bounty hunter on an alien planet while uncovering the truth about his abduction sounded too good to be true. That was probably a valid insight when we look back at this one, with the game’s plans to make you embody a bounty hunter never coming to fruition.

We would have loved the chance to make use of all the agency this one gave us as we took on the role it wanted us to, but all we can do now is smile somberly at what could have been.

6. Scalebound

An action-RPG that gave fans of the Eragon novels a lot to be excited for, this one might have been a legendary title had it actually made its way to its audiences. Getting to command a literal dragon in the heat of battle, and even directly take control of it to unleash its fearsome abilities, is an idea that we’re yet to see even in the current generation of games. And that’s without even considering the co-op potential that the concept could bring to the table.

Its eventual cancellation after years of development is a showcase of how even the best of ideas may not translate to commercially viable titles in the long run.

7. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Patriots

Although this one did make way for Rainbow Six Siege, the thought of being part of a unit led by a morally grey former Navy SEAL against a terrorist group that was willing to impose its own beliefs on New York’s residents had all the makings of a Tom Clancy story that was true to the author’s vision and tone.

However, the decision to cancel the title and scrap this unique concept is a choice that we continue to question to this day.

8. The Lord of the Rings: The White Council

An open-world RPG where you would work under the guidance of the White Council, with its story and themes drawing from both the films and books, sounds like a Lord of the Rings adventure that might have put even Frodo and Sam to shame.

But it seems that the idea was cast into the fires of Mount Doom, and while we do have Shadow of War to help us cope, we can’t help but wish for a Palantir to view what it might have turned out to be if its version of Middle-earth was allowed to take shape.

9. Agent

Set in the Cold War and rumored to place its players at the heart of all of the espionage, political assassinations, and counter-intelligence that the era brought along, Agent was a great idea. Even Sony seemed to think so, locking down its IP with the belief that it could “set the bar for the industry” as per Michael Shorrock, who headed SCEA’s third-party relations at the time.

A stealth-action game with Rockstar at the helm certainly fits that description, but like the agents it aimed to bring to life, this one quietly vanished, presumably sacrificed in order to focus more resources on the development of GTA V.

10. Project Titan

The World of Warcraft killer that spent seven years in development continues to have us wondering whether it might have been able to live up to its lofty ambitions.

Despite the best of Blizzard coming together to bring this sci-fi MMO to life, complete with cool mech suits and rumored superhero-esque powers for its characters, along with a unique twist where you play as a normal citizen of the world by day while battling it out at night, Project Titan was unable to get off the ground. This is a cancellation that still rankles, if we’re being honest.

11. The Last of Us Online

Among the many projects that were cancelled in the aftermath of Sony’s ill-fated live-service push, this one was the most disappointing to us. The concept definitely had its merits, with a massive world filled with The Infected being the perfect stage for a survival-horror gameplay loop, complete with a standalone story to keep things interesting.

Unfortunately for it, the concept was scrapped after concerns about its long-term viability began to rear their head. For our part, we would have played this one for hours on end if it had made its way into our hands.

12. Duke Nukem Forever

While Duke was a hero who was quite clear about where he stood on alien invasions, the creative team behind this one could have emulated his conviction. That wasn’t the case, and this title switched engines during its development so many times that it’s hard to think about the game it was meant to be versus the one that we got.

Its vision was ultimately diluted by a needless focus on technical relevance, and as one of the record holders for being the longest game in development, we can’t help but feel that this was a game that deserved to be greater than the sloppy experience it ultimately devolved into.

13. Final Fantasy Versus XIII

The darker, more gothic take on the franchise was quite appealing when it first came to light, and Prince Noctis was quite an intriguing character. But with Final Fantasy XIII and eventually Final Fantasy XIV constantly dividing the attention of its team, and engine issues caused by the PS3’s aging tech, this one was pulled back and repurposed into FFXV.

When the trailer for the game eventually came around, it felt like it had changed almost completely, ditching its darker tone for something better aligned with the franchise’s overall light-hearted trappings. It would then be a solid five years before XV came out, and Versus XIII quietly vanished from the hearts and minds of its potential players.

14. The Getaway 3

We were quite fond of the original Getaway’s unique way of presenting its world, with the sort of cinematic quality that comes along quite rarely. With its parallel storylines and lack of a HUD and other elements, it was quite immersive and also fun to play as a Sony-backed sandbox. The sequel carried on those traditions, and we were delighted to know that a third title was in the works.

But The Getaway 3 was lost to the annals of time, with its cancellation never actually being announced, but quite clearly understood by the gaming world at large.

15. Deep Down

A sci-fi fantasy co-op adventure that would have its players exploring time-hopping dungeons is something we’re still waiting to see. It doesn’t help that Deep Down had its gameplay drawing inspiration from Dark Souls, which was already among our favorites to begin with.

But its 2013 reveal, and the lack of any concrete evidence of its development over the years has essentially made this once unique concept nothing more than vaporware. We’re holding out hope that it eventually becomes a great game, but we’re not going to hold our breath.

BONUS: Wonder Woman

Monolith’s proprietary Nemesis System, a unique mechanic that worked so darn well in the Shadow franchise, was the perfect way to craft a Wonder Woman story that could really dig into the character’s lore who could defy challenges and come back stronger.

That’s probably why the cancellation of this one continues to be an annoyance to us, as the concept is probably not going to make it to any other titles in the near future.

And that’s a wrap on our picks for great gaming ideas that showed a lot of promise but did not ultimately make their way to their players. Here’s to hoping that we don’t have to make another one of these lists over the next few years, though!

Answering a question about how we don’t quite see as many prolific project cancellations from Japanese developers and publishers, Kamiya noted that Japanese publishers tend to be “more understanding toward creators.” He draws on his experience in working with companies like Sega, Capcom, Nintendo, Konami and Koei Tecmo.

“Speaking from a creative perspective, I’ve worked with Sega, Capcom, and Nintendo,” said Kamiya. “And during my time at PlatinumGames, I also collaborated with Japanese publishers like Konami and Koei Tecmo, as well as overseas publishers such as Microsoft, Tencent, and Activision. What it feels like when working with Japanese publishers is that the development culture feels closer to mind, and they tend to be more understanding toward creators.”

Discussing his own views on game development, Kamiya likens his process as being more like inventing a thing, which often leads to titles helmed by him to have some new and unique mechanics. Okami, for example, incorporated its water painting aesthetics into its gameplay, giving players a paint brush with which they could solve puzzles and attack enemies. The Wonderful 101 similarly gave players the ability to form shapes with their groups of superheroes to then transform into unique weapons.

“I think of game development as a kind of invention,” he explained. “For example, in Bayonetta we had Witch Time, in The Wonderful 101 we had Unite Morphs, and with Okami it was the Celestial Brush. My goal is always to build in a unique mechanic that only that game can have. On the Japanese side, my impression is that they see you’re trying to make a new invention. They understand the struggle of trying to give birth to something new, and they watch over the process with patience. That’s where I see there’s a difference with publishers.”

And this, he noted, was a big difference between the Western approach to publishing when compared to Japanese companies. He spoke about how Western companies tend to put pressure on developers when they are trying out new concepts. Kamiya also drew comparison to Western companies’ love for making first-person shooters, believing that “they feel a sense of safety following an established format.”

“But with Scalebound, and this is information already out there, so I can say it, what we were trying to build was a system where the player controlled both a human protagonist and a dragon together in an adventure,” he said. “But there was no clear reference or format for us to follow for a game like that. And I think that’s why it was easy for some to have doubts.”

Ultimately, Kamiya believes that Scalebound’s fate would have been different if the publishing were being handled by a Japanese company. “I don’t mean that if it had been a Japanese publisher, the game would necessarily have been completed and released, but I imagine the process itself would have played out differently,” he said. “For me personally, overseas publishers seem to have a much stronger desire to see a finished product as quickly as possible. If it had been a Japanese publisher, I feel they might have given us more leeway.”

Kamiya did make it clear, however, that he is specifically talking about the situation with Scalebound. He wants there to be no misunderstanding about why the project was ultimately cancelled, noting that it was solely on the development team at PlatinumGames and him as the director.

“But because I have now experienced working with overseas publishers, I feel that if the opportunity ever comes again, we’ll find a way to take advantage of both sides’ strengths,” he said.

Kamiya had also previously expressed an interest in working on Scalebound alongside Microsoft’s Phil Spencer at some point in the future.

“Noticed some excitement around Kamiya’s desk…” posted the Clovers X account. “He was reminiscing about the development of Scalebound while watching YouTube videos. It never made it to release, but even now, he still feels proud of it.”

The video itself has Kamiya excitedly showing old Scalebound trailers to colleagues at Clovers and talking about its various gameplay features.

“You can shoot in different directions,” explains Kamiya in the video. “Change the situation… He’s got his on headphones and smartphones.” When a colleague compares it to an Isekai anime, he responds, “Yeah, exactly! That’s the big trend right now.”

The Clovers account caps the post off by quoting Kamiya saying, “I’d love to make it again someday.”

Scalebound was an open-world action game that was originally developed exclusively for the Xbox One during Kamiya’s time at PlatinumGames. After spending a long time in development, however, the project was ultimately cancelled, with Spencer himself confirming that development on the title had stopped back in 2020.

According to developer PlatinumGames, the project was cancelled because the studio, along with Microsoft, couldn’t get the game to work. While he didn’t go into specifics, studio head at the time, Atsushi Inaba, chalked problems up to both sides, rather than laying the blame at either party in particular.

Since then, however, Kamiya has expressed interest in returning to work on Scalebound. He spoke about it in an interview back in 2022, saying he was “totally serious” about the idea. Kamiya chalked up the desire to see the project finished to him being a creator and hearing fans saying they would have liked to play it.

Rumours in 2023 indicated that Microsoft and PlatinumGames were in talks behind closed doors about reviving Scalebound. At the time, a discussion between the two companies was described as being in the “very early” stages.

Since then, however, Kamiya has left PlatinumGames, with the studio undergoing its own shift in employees and leadership. Back in December, Kamiya was announced as having joined Clovers, and working on a new Okami game alongside Capcom.

The sequel to Okami was unveiled with a highly stylised trailer during The Game Awards 2024. While no details have been revealed about the game yet, the description for the trailer said that it would be a “new adventure”. The title will feature Amaterasu returning as its protagonist, and will be continuing the story where the original Okami left off.

Capcom has also confirmed that Okami 2 is being developed using its in-house RE Engine – the same engine that powers a wide variety of games, including Street Fighter 6, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Monster Hunter Wilds, and every Resident Evil mainline game and remake since Resident Evil 7: biohazard. Its platforms have yet to be confirmed.

In the meantime, players can check out the original Okami thanks to HD remasters available on just about every modern gaming platform out today. Even Xbox Series X/S and PS5 can play the classic game thanks to backwards compatibility with the Xbox One and PS4 versions respectively.

Let’s do it, Phil ! 😀 https://t.co/BLdBs3hxGt

— 神谷英樹🍀 Hideki Kamiya🍀 (@HidekiKamiya_X) March 3, 2025

Freedom Fighters 2

IO Interactive delivered one of the most enjoyable shooters with 2003’s Freedom Fighters, a game that beautifully meshes tactical elements along with pure adrenaline-pumping action and an emotionally charged narrative of overthrowing oppression – and fans absolutely lapped it up. There have been scant rumblings of a sequel over the years, but nothing much has come to fruition. While the IP continues to be under the possession of now-independent IO Interactive, the chances of a full-fledged sequel happening anytime soon are extremely slim. 

Sleeping Dogs 2

Sleeping Dogs might have felt like yet another one of those cheap GTA clones, but United Front Games’ open-world offerings were as much a product of their creativity as it was derivative of Rockstar’s works. Wei Shen’s story of navigating through the criminal underbelly of Hong Kong is a consistently thrilling ride that’s punctuated with great gameplay variety and fun open-world activities, and the ideas were ripe to be built upon with a sequel. United Front Games had some ambitious plans in place, but those were gone to waste as the developer closed doors permanently in 2012 – leaving us with faint hopes that will probably never come true.

Star Wars 1313

There is no shortage of Star Wars-based games in the current market scenario, but it’s hard not to reminisce about the canceled Star Wars 1313 project. The game was being developed by LucasArts themselves at one point, and it would be telling the story of Boba Fett in his early days of navigating the galaxy. Initial showings of the game looked impressive with its cinematic gameplay and faithful rendition of the popular sci-fi setting, but the project was put on hold when Disney purchased the studio – putting the final nail in its coffin.

Agent

Rockstar is behind some of the best games of the last couple of generations, and the studio is also behind the mysterious vaporware that was Agent. First announced all the way in 2007, Agent was supposed to be an open-world game with elements of espionage and fans were understandably excited to see what was in store. Months and years passed with little in the name of concrete information on the game, and Agent slowly faded into the void with no hopes of emerging back once agai

Bully 2

Since we are on the topic of canceled Rockstar games, we should also discuss Bully 2. The original Bully felt like a breath of fresh air with its school setting and a narrative that let you experience the highs and lows of a teenager living in a boarding school, and those ideas were ripe to be built upon with a sequel. While nothing was ever announced in an official capacity, there have been several rumors and reports that state that Bully 2 was at least in the cards at some point if not in active development. Rumors continue to churn out even to this date, but the chances of anything coming to fruition are pretty low.

Scalebound

PlatinumGames has rightfully established its reputation as one of the best names when it comes to developing action games brimming with style and substance, and Scalebound felt emblematic of the studio’s biggest strengths. Scalebound’s idea of using dragons as your companions was enough to send fan expectations off the charts, and initial showings were looking really promising. However, development wasn’t the smoothest and the team faced several problems in trying to create a cohesive experience with online functionality built into the game eventually leading to Microsoft canceling the project altogether. It’s a shame that such an amazing idea was let go to waste, and Scalebound could have genuinely turned out to be a great time if PlatinumGames was given the creative freedom they wished for.

Silent Hills

Konami’s Silent Hill franchise is set to make a grand comeback with several new entries set to release in the near future, but we can’t help but think about the canceled Silent Hills project. Silent Hills was Kojima’s take on the popular horror franchise, and the playable teaser was more than enough to leave fans salivating for the final release. But the infamous Konami-Kojima breakout left the project in ruins, eventually leading to it being canned and our hopes and dreams unfulfilled. 

A New Metal Gear by Hideo Kojima

The Metal Gear Solid series has continued to deliver hit after hit with each new entry, and it continues to be one of the most revered franchises thanks to the incredible attention to detail that Kojima and the team have poured into each and every aspect of the experience. While the series is also making a comeback with the upcoming release of Delta Snake Eater, we would love to see another new Metal Gear directed by Kojima san himself, but the infamous Konami-Kojima break-up leaves little chance of that happening anytime soon.

 A New Burnout

Criterion’s Burnout series was one of the best arcade racers of its time, and its gameplay loop of crashing into rival cars and emphasizing a generally aggressive driving style was what helped the franchise stand out from the crowd. But with EA eventually moving Criterion to work on the Need For Speed series, the Burnout IP was kept hostage and it slowly turned dormant over the years. Without a shadow of a doubt, there are more than thousands of fans who are hoping for a revival, but the current state of EA and its obsession with continuing to invest in NFS means that a new Burnout game isn’t likely to come out anytime soon. 

Portal 3

The Portal games continue to be some of the best puzzle games of all time, thanks to an ingenious central mechanic that forms the basis of all gameplay and the witty writing that came along with it. Many games have tried to create similar experiences since then, but none have managed to capture the magic of Valve’s works – which has left us craving for a potential Portal 3 even after all this time. But given the current stance of Valve’s game development division, it seems like Portal 3 would probably never see the light of day. 

New Dino Crisis 

Dino Crisis was very much a product of its time, a game confident in its ability to deliver a consistently thrilling experience despite being based on a concept so weird. We have had some really fond memories of shooting down dinosaurs with machine guns, and we would really love to get a new entry with the same level of eccentricity and fun that is so characteristic of the franchise. However, it feels highly unlikely that the developer would be making much effort to breathe new life into this now stagnant IP. And no, Exoprimal doesn’t count.

Deep Down

Yet another one of the developer’s failed projects, Deep Down was put forth as one of the PS4’s launch titles. Deep Down featured impressive graphics for its time, and the concept of working your way through procedurally generated dungeons with friends sounded like a really fun idea that could have genuinely turned out to be a big hit. Development wasn’t obviously the smoothest, which eventually led to the game being delayed to an indefinite date. We still think about what Deep Down could have been, but all we can do is hope.

Titanfall 3

Titanfall 2 was a great game that y featured one of the best FPS campaigns of all time but it failed to capture much of an audience since it was sandwiched between the highly overrated Battlefield and a Call of Duty series- making it a commercial failure. The future of the franchise already looked bleak after that failure, and now that the developer has been focusing majorly on Star Wars – a potential Titanfall 3 is most likely not on the cards. 

The Next Dark Souls

It’s safe to say that FromSoftware has birthed an entire genre with Dark Souls, and the entire trilogy remains one of the best experiences of recent memory. The developer has already moved on to bigger experiences with the likes of Elden Ring, but there’s undoubtedly a void for a new Dark Souls game. Between this and the fact that the trilogy brought a definitive end to the endless cycle of fire, a new game coming out feels like a distant dream that probably won’t come true.

Prototype 3

Radical Entertainment’s Prototype was a really great open-world game that provided a really satisfying power fantasy as you mow down entire squadrons of enemies in moments unnoticed, and those elements were taken to the next level with Prototype 2. Radical Entertainment was slowly devolved into a support studio for Activision’s bigger franchises before it was closed sometime in 2014, leaving the dreams of any potential Prototype 3 dead in the dust.

As per XboxEra co-founder Nick Baker, PlatinumGames and Microsoft are working together again to maybe bring Scalebound back. Baker said on a recent episode of he XboxEra Podcast that the two companies are in the “very early” stages of discussions surrounding a revival of the game.

Baker says he doesn’t know what form the game will take – whether Platinum and Microsoft will pick up the pieces of the cancelled project or start from scratch – and it doesn’t look like anything is concrete at this time. Either way, the leaker says that if this were to come to fruition, it would still be “ages away”.

PlatinumGames itself has made no secret of the fact that it would be open to discussing a revival of the project with Microsoft. Last year, CEO Atsushi Inaba said he would “like to have a proper discussion with Microsoft” about bringing the project back, with vice president Hideki Kamiya stating the company was “totally serious” about those plans.

Whether or not something actually comes of that remains to be seen, but it seems like, after all this time, there may still be some hope for Scalebound.

Following the Activision-Blizzard deal, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has cited his desire to work on franchises from his childhood. Inevitably that leads to the question: What other titles could be brought back for the Xbox Series X/S generation? Let’s take a look at 15 of them here.

Scalebound

Set in a fantasy world with dragons, it saw protagonist Drew having a massive dragon named Thuban by his side. Along with functioning independently, one could also give commands to Thuban while fighting. It was also possible to directly control the dragon and enter Berserker mode for increased power. Announced in 2014 as an Xbox One exclusive, the hack and slash combat combined with battles on a massive scale looked promising, especially with up to four players in co-op.

Originally slated for release in late 2016, Scalebound would be delayed to the next year and subsequently cancelled in January 2017. Studio head Atsushi Inaba felt that “both sides failed” when it came to the cancellation and that it “didn’t do all of the things that we needed to do as a developer.” PlatinumGames has expressed interest in returning to the project – especially since Microsoft still owns the IP. It may not happen any time soon but never say never.

PlatinumGames’ recently appointed CEO Atsushi Inaba and also recently appointed vice president Hideki Kamiya (director of Bayonetta, Vanquish, and the cancelled Scalebound) recently spoke about wanting to return to Scalebound and revive the project, if that’s something that Microsoft would be willing to do. More recently, in an interview with VGC, Kamiya doubled down on that, explaining that he’s “totally serious” abut wanting to bring Scalebound back, not just because he wants to see it through as a creator, but because there also seems to be a lot of demand for it.

“I think it’s really strange because, to be honest, I’ve been in a lot of interviews since the project ended and I feel like I’ve said many times that I’d love to be able to bring it back,” Kamiya said. “Having gotten somewhere with it, as a creator I’d like to see it to the end. And I hear fans saying they really want to play that game, which is too bad, and I want to give that to them when I hear that.

“That’s something that I thought I’d been saying, or I’d been trying to say for years now. I’ve said it in interviews before and gotten no reaction, but now finally I got a big reaction, and I was glad to see that. But no, it’s not a joke: I’m totally serious about it, yeah.”

Interestingly enough, when asked if PlatinumGames and Microsoft are in the talks over Scalebound, Kamiya said he “can’t confirm or deny” that.

“I can’t confirm or deny anything, but we could be talking to Microsoft. But we could also be talking to Nintendo, Sony, Capcom, Konami or anybody!”

If PlatinumGames does indeed push for Scalebound to happen, and if Microsoft decides that it’s something worth investing in, maybe those who were looking forward to seeing the concept realized will have something to look forward to in the future. Of course, that’s still a lot of ifs- but one can always keep on hoping.

It seems PlatinumGames itself hasn’t given up hopes of that happening either. Speaking in an interview with IGN Japan, the studio’s CEO Atsushi Inaba said that there’s still plenty of interest in Scalebound at the company, especially with Hideki Kamya, who was going to be the original game’s director. He then added that they would like to have “a proper discussion with Microsoft” about the same.

“Kamiya has always wanted to do Scalebound. So we’d like to have a proper discussion with Microsoft,” Inaba said (translated by VGC).

Meanwhile, Kamiya himself cheekily shot Xbox boss Phil Spencer an opening, saying, “We did a lot of work on it, and it’s no use Microsoft keeping the game in its current form, so we’d like to do something about it (laughs). Phil! Let’s do it together!”

Whether anything comes of this remains to be seen, but there’s little doubt that there’s no shortage of interest in Scalebound, and if Platinum and Xbox were indeed to partner up again to make the project of reality, they’d have plenty of people looking forward to it.

For now, PlatinumGames is working on Babylon’s Fall and Bayonetta 3– and it seems like the company will be shifting its focus to live service development going forward. Read more on that through here.

This was revealed on Twitter by Jean Pierre Kellams, a former creative producer at Platinum’s Osaka office. He noted that Miyata is “super talented” and couldn’t wait to play Bayonetta 3 primarily because he’s directing it. Interestingly, Kellams noted that the new summons mechanics “looks VERY similar to a mechanic that we had in Scalebound to control Thuban.”

Scalebound was announced at E3 2014 with Microsoft Studios publishing it exclusively for Xbox One and PC. It featured a protagonist named Drew who could command a large dragon named Thuban in battle. Along with riding on Thuban, the two could combine for a special berserker mode. Microsoft would subsequently announce the project’s cancellation in 2017 and there’s been some demand, regardless of how small, to bring it back.

It looks like those fans may somewhat be getting their wish with Bayonetta 3’s Demon Slave mechanic. It’s out in 2022 for the Nintendo Switch so stay tuned for more details in the coming year.

Oh! One more thing that I forgot to mention… Yusuke Miyata was the lead designer on Scalebound, and he is super talented, and I can't wait to play Bayo 3 primarily because he is directing it.

— JP Kellams (@synaesthesiajp) September 24, 2021

Yeah… The controlling the summons thing looks VERY similar to a mechanic that we had in Scalebound to control Thuban. Now that I've gotten to rewatch the trailer, I'm really psyched for that. 🙂 https://t.co/d30zQm4i8z

— JP Kellams (@synaesthesiajp) September 24, 2021

One of the most interesting and talked about canceled projects in recent memory was the unlikely collaboration between Microsoft and PlatinumGames that was Scalebound. While we ultimately saw little of the project, between being from a popular studio and also looking wholly unique, people were definitely into whatever this thing would be. But both Platinum and Microsoft just couldn’t get it to work, and the game was canned. With Platinum being on much more solid financial ground now and mulling over the canceled title, it’s led some to wonder if maybe there’s hope we could see it again. Well, unfortunately, it seems the head of Xbox has squashed that.

Speaking on the IGN Unlocked podcast, Phil Spencer was blunt in saying that neither Microsoft or Platinum are working on the canceled action game. He seems regretful that it ultimately came down to it, especially since it was such a talked about title, but in the end, it seems all parties have moved on.

“We’re not working on it,” Spencer said. “I’m not at Platinum today, but I’m almost positive they’re not working on it. It’s something we all moved past.

“It’s not a moment that I see as a high point for me in my role, having to cancel a game that we had talked about for years. But yeah, for the people out there who are kind of thinking that maybe there’s something still in the works, there’s not.”

It’s not particularly surprising, but still disappointing, since the game looked so unique. But Platinum has plenty of other projects in the works, including the next game from director Hideki Kamiya. Best not to get too wrapped in what could have been.