Former PlatinumGames Producer Pooh-Poohs Scalebound Rumour

The internet can make a lot of things believable.
I believe it when I see it.

Zero chance the game is coming. Plus if the rumour of a dead game being resurrected is true Scalebound would be a really boring choice. I am hoping the rumour is actually about a dead franchise being resurrected like F Zero or Wave Race!

I thought the rumours would die down following the recent Direct, alas they still come thick and fast. Dirty rumours!

Eternal Darkness, Waverace, F-zero. One of those please internet. Make it happen!

@AlternateButtons The people that started the rumor don't work at Platinum, and haven't revealed their source to be an employee either, so the rumor means nothing as well.

@KingdomHeartsFan I don't mind NL reporting rumours. Reporting is what they do, and rumours is part of it. And they do it properly by stating "Rumour" in the title, unlike other websites.
Other people might complain they missed a rumour if it happens to be true. Although I wouldn't mind a huge "potential BS warning" banner

So he admits he knows nothing different to anyone else then.

While its probably unlikely that it comes to Switch in its most recent form, I find it highly unlikely that Platinum would completely bin everything from a game they have been working on in one way or another since 2006 and very actively since 2013.

They will have generated a ton of assets and code, which would surprise me to see them just bin unless they are bound by some form of contract with Microsoft, which seems increasingly unlikely given the fact they appear to have allowed the copyright/trademark on the name to lapse.

I didn't realize this rumor was popular enough to be struck down by a former PG dev.

While the guy may not have any knowledge of what is currently going on at the company, he will have a very good idea of what state the game was in when he left in March 2017 and what issues it had faced/would face. He would also have seen the company's upcoming road map and where finances were being allocated. While a lot can change in 2 years, big companies don't usually move that quickly. It's a little unfair to say that he knows no more than any of us.

He left in March 2017, 2 months after it was cancelled. This rumor popped up almost 2 years later. It's entirely plausible this was decided on sometime after he left.

You know, if there's one thing I've learnt from being in the games industry, it's never ignore a pooh-pooh. I knew a developer who got pooh-poohed, made the mistake of ignoring the pooh-pooh. He pooh-poohed it! Fatal error! 'Cause it turned out all along that the publisher who pooh-poohed him had been pooh-poohing a lot of other developers, who pooh-poohed their pooh-poohs. In the end, we had to disband the team. Morale totally destroyed...by pooh-pooh!

I used to work at Sainsburys, I doubted they would knock down the local store and build a new one across the road... they did it anyway. True story. Him doubting it as credible as BenAV or Jtmnm or any other user here doubting it... He used to work somewhere and has no knowledge to what they are up 2 now..

Proposed alternative headline: Guy Who Doesn't Know Anything Says Unfounded Rumor Probably Isn't True.

I could feasibly see this happening but this guy has the advantage of understanding both the legal ranglings and the state this was when it was abandoned ...

But all of the internet said it was a thing....and the internet is all 100% true....😢😰😂

I think the issue is that no one has come up with a plausible alternative that fits the description of what Nintendo is supposedly resurrecting. There may be no actual evidence, but given Nintendo's recent history with Platinum, Scalebound still doesn't seem like a crazy possibility.

he does not work there anymore, he has not talked to anyone about it, but yes, he has "debunked" the rumour

@SBandy wait, you found the trailers & gameplay for Scalebound boring?! Damn you must be into some mega ultra hype exciting kinda stuff cuz damn..

@beazlen1 Eternal Darkness would be amazing! The Switch is in need of more proper horror-y games!!!

Nintendo rumors are 90% BS. Look at MP trilogy, Skyward sword, Spyro and Persona 5 LOL!!

So let me get this straight- Game Informer starts a rumor about dead franchise returning on Switch, frantic shuffling amongst bloggers looking up every cancelled game, internet bloggers decide it must be Scalebound even though Platinum Games has 2 already in the oven for Switch, disappointment when realizing there were no plans to do so...

At least P.T. Barnum knew he was crafting hoaxes. These people spreading the Scalebound rumor are jumping the gun to a race that never was announced or will ever exist.

I hope that he is wrong.

@imananjidesuka I absolutely agree with your opinion.

@Evilworm Yeah otherwise Mother 3 would have been at every Nintendo direct for the last 7 years. I get it. In an age when Spiro, Shenmue, and Crash Team Racing make a comeback, anything can happen. Almost anything at least

While it would be a good thing to happen, I can't see it happening due to the exclusivity it was developed under for the Xbox One. Open minded to the idea, but I can't see it right now.

Doesn't Microsoft have partial ownership of the IP?

@sikthvash That's a load of pooh-pooh!

far too much gossip, hearsay and rumour for me. Making me a bit nauseous.

@MaSSiVeRiCaN

Not that that the game itself is boring but the choice of that being the game to be reborn I find boring compared to other potential games/franchises that could be brought back.

I don't really care about the dead and bury game, Astral Chain and Daemon X Machina alongside the remake of Link's Awakening already had me excited. The dead and bury game whatever it may be whether Scalebound or not if it's not a game I thought it to be then it probably wouldn't excite me anyways. For all I care it can stay dead and bury if it's not freaking F-Zero and Golden Sun.

Yeah a guy who probably stopped working at Platinum before things were arranged would have so much insight.

Guy from Game Informer makes unsubstantiated rumor about a dead IP being revived.
Internet decides it must be Scalebound.
Guy who no longer works at studio says he doubts Internet.
Internet craps on doubter.
No one blames Khan.
Khan keeps making unsubstantiated rumors.

Although I would normally agree with the sentiment of "guy who doesn't work at Platinum anymore wouldn't be able to know anything about it",
I disagree in this specific instance, because of the weight of his role, being a creative director, so he was pretty high up in the chain, which could definitely mean he still has some inside knowledge, regardless of him not working there anymore.

And besides that, I don't believe the Scalebound rumor anyway, regardless of it originally being planned for the Wii. To turn around what it had already changed into, to make it a good fit for the Switch, would be an almost Herculean task, so I just don't see that happening.

@Justifier A third party game is actually the least likely. First off, the original rumor specifically seemed to suggest that it was about a game that Nintendo canceled and labeled as dead, and for Nintendo to be able to revive a third party project, they'd either need to have permission from the parties involved, which in this case would be Microsoft, because they still hold the rights, or they would have to buy the entire thing from the party that owns it, so that they have complete control over it.

I don't see either of those things happening, so chances of it being Scalebound, or any other third party IP, are slim to none. So, provided both rumors are even remotely true, it will sooner be a first or a second party game, that's being revived.

@imananjidesuka You talk as if it's already a done deal, while it is still a highly doubtful, and unconfirmed rumor, and the chances of it actually being Scalebound, in original or altered form, are very small, as I already explained earlier in this comment.

@JackEatsSparrows And then there's that as well. Indeed...

@AlternateButtons or he could know what a broken mess it was when he left. Why exactly do y’all think it’s that game anyway? Where’s the proof?

@AlternateButtons but has any part of this rumor come from platinum directly? If not then the same applies to all the other people with high hopes standing at the bottom of a canyon.

@KingdomHeartsFan then why post on the discussion of an article? Lmaoooo

Usually when a rumor of this magnitude comes, you see some of the companies putting out the fire, something that didnt happen here. I'm waiting for an official statement.

I like how the subtitle is the part of the tweet at the end that says -

"I’d highly doubt this is a thing"

but the first half of his tweet is ignored that says -

"I don't work there anymore and haven't talked to anyone about it"

And judging by the comments he hasn't worked there in 2 years and works at EA now so he's barely more reliable than any other rando.

Would have been nice if he would have said "MS owns it so it's impossible" or given some other reason that he doubts it other than it's happening without his knowledge.

Simple follow up question for him, when did he know Astral Chain was a Switch exclusive? If he says - never heard of it until the ND - well there ya go. If he says he talks to current P* employees about it every day, well there ya go.

Internet isn't a very reliable source of info one way or the other. 😛

@SBandy I think a potential new IP could be way more interesting than bringing back some older ones. However I'm also less into racing games than you for those older IP's. However if we were getting an existing franchise getting brought back I'd really love to see Mega Man Legends 3 be the rumored resurrected title . I loved the first 2 games in that series.

For anyone no longer working at PG and then making comments is akin to Insider trading to cause a game collapse so they can make money for their current employer is what I get form this. It looks more like a grudge revenge then real reviews or knowledge. And as noted by others it's two years after he left so if he says is true that is Insider Trading and I doubt PG would let such Insider Trading just slide. PG has everyone reason to go after fake reviews from former employees that already left.

"doesnt work there anymore"

sorry i dont buy it this guy doesnt work at platinum studios anymore so this doesnt disconfirm scalebound coming to switch.

@Evilworm metroid prime trilogy is not a rumor bs its alrdy done in development nintendo is just waiting for the right time to announce it.

I still have some hope for this~
...also, did anyone else notice the article mentioning him now working for EA?
F

He was lead producer. So no he wouldn't have any idea other than the design issues it faced. Not the engineering challenges. Can't even get regular production staff to understand half of what is going on. Lol

He will have a rough idea of the general state of it however.

Beyond that, he wouldn't have any idea what has been negotiated in 2018. For that matter what has changed design wise and what optimizations have changed. As I've said before, it won't likely be the game we knew in 2017. It'll be scalebound in name and it's assets reused, but the game play will be tailored to suit the switch. You can bet the multiplayer was likely the first thing to go. Enemy encounters scaled back.

Ultimately I don't know that it's worth the work involved. It's a grand vision, one the Xbox one base unit struggled to deliver the needed performance on. Which might account it's leaps to generation to generation. Simply put this is platinums Last Guardian.

@BionicDodo

To be fair to others, the first thing he says himself is that he doesn’t know. Can’t blame other people for saying it really.

Scalebound got cancelled and a few months later he left platinum

Alot can happen in 2 years since he left platinum.

Bayonetta 2 was also officially cancelled before nintendo decided to fund the game

So yeah i wont count this rumour out since its platinum and seeing the history with them and nintendo

Also the scalebound ip has been abbandoned by microsoft.

So if anything, there are more clues surrounding scalebound could be true, then the clues against it

@KingdomHeartsFan Not discussing it. Just sharing my opinion as you did.

Pooh pooh?

Was this written by a 10 year old?

Fyi, that P* staff member hasn't worked there since early 2017. He wouldn't know anyways.

I'm not saying it's true or false, but I wouldn't pay any attention to what an ex-exployee has to say

@rjejr In this case, the source has some merit, so I don't feel like we should dismiss it so easily. He was way up in the organization and the team of the people making the game, being a creative director. That's second tier management level, with only one boss above you. It really wouldn't be all that strange to expect him to still have contacts within that team.

Case in point: when I worked at HP, I was "just" a team leader in the sales & marketing department, which is basically 3rd or 4th tier management, depending on company structure. And even now, more than 10 years later, I still have contacts inside HP in my personal network, and I still hear things from them from time to time, even without asking, so imagine if I seriously started to inquire about stuff, I'm pretty sure that (besides the really secret stuff that falls under NDA's and so on) I could get quite a bit more info than what I already know from what they're telling me of their own accord.

So, with him being a far more important former employee, he'll almost definitely still have contacts, and concerning those comments about him not working there anymore: he left after the game was canceled, meaning that, along with the entire team involved, he not only went through the whole process of being involved in making the game and then ultimately seeing it being canceled, but of course also in knowing the exact reasons why.

And another obstacle would be that Microsoft actually renewed the trademark for Scalebound in May 2017, and that's likely to last for more than just a couple of years (federal trademarks, for example, last 10 years, with applicants having to express their intent to keep the trademark around the 6 year mark, if they want to renew it).

So, either Nintendo would have had to make a deal with Microsoft, or they should have bought the IP and the rights to the trademark from them, if the latter is even possible.

Or, if Platinum is still planning on doing anything with the idea, that would mean that they wouldn't be able to use the name "Scalebound" for it, so whatever happens, no game with that title could come to the Switch, unless Microsoft plays ball...

@superguy123 The trademark they renewed in May 2017 says they didn't abandon it...

@PrincessBowsette Aaanyway it is a PORT....an existing game, i could play it right NOW if i wanted to..so no im not anticipating the game, they can show it at E3 and ill just go MEH alrdy played it. Nintendo nowadays is just boring.....

Come on the DS is a weak handheld but look at the games announced for it!! Zelda Phantom Hourglass / Spirit tracks, 2 Exclusive Zelda you can only play on DS, Megaman Starforce series Capcom's original IP and MM ZX, couldnt play it on any other systems, Runefactory 1-3 , 3x Castlevanias, bunch of Atlus exclusives like trauma Center and devil survivor, you get the gist. Games are made Specifically for it. But what happened on Nintendo Switch??? All just ports after ports.

On the Recent direct, only Astral Chain and rune factory 5 is interesting, all the others..MEH!!!!

@KingdomHeartsFan I'll let you figure it out on your own

Isn't it reasonable to assume that he still gets some contact from Platinum employees he befriended so he probably would know if it were being revived?

Let's not forget that Nintendo resurrecting a canceled game series is still just a rumor as well. Everyone is acting like that's a certifiable fact now and the only thing left to confirm is which game is being revived

@ThanosReXXX "It really wouldn't be all that strange to expect him to still have contacts within that team."

And if he still had contacts within the team and he said that I would believe him. People keep in touch w/ co-workers from previous jobs all the time. But he didn't say he talked to anyone, he specifically said -

and haven't talked to anyone about it

So THAT comment makes him a rando. Having worked there I would expect him to know things, or be all coy and simply say "it isn't happening", but he specifically went on record as saying "haven't talked to anyone", so it doesn't really matter if he worked there or not if he hasn't spoken to anyone there in 2 years.

So while I agree with you that in most cases former employees do have inside knowledge about what goes on at their former jobs, he said he didn't.

So, either you want me to believe he's a liar who does still have contact with people at his former job but lied about that, or the game is happening and he knows but he lied about that. Either way would make him a liar and I don't believe liars. So I just have to believe his truth - he doesn't work there anymore, he doesn't speak to anyone there anymore, and he doesn't know - "I don't know were his first 3 words - he's just guessing that it isn't being made, just like most other people are guessing it isn't being made.

So, as you can see, I didn't easily dismiss his comment, I read it closely and looked for the truth in it, the truth being he doesn't know. Had he said he knew I would have believed him for the reasons you gave. But I can't believe 2/3 of his comment - I don't know. haven't talked to anyone about it and then believe his guess is any more accurate than anyone else's.

@rjejr Well, although I actually agree with your sentiment, it doesn't exclude any actual truths, if there are any, considering that we're basically talking about rumors on top of rumors in the first place...

Let's just put it this way then: from all people that we've read or heard about, in relation to this rumor, he at least would stand the most chance to know what might have actually become of the game, and definitely more than that Imran Khan guy from Game Informer.

And the reason why he still says he doesn't, might be because of possibly existing NDA's, which on the other hand kinda makes me wonder why he's so seemingly adamant about it not being a thing.
Or maybe it could just be him trying to keep some former colleagues out of trouble, for speaking about it, who knows? It could be any number of reasons. (and yes, also because he actually really doesn't know anything, but that still doesn't exclude other options)

Either way, from my own research, the results of which I mentioned in the previous comment, the game will never be called Scalebound, even if it actually is going to be released on the Switch, unless some money has changed hands, and rights have been handed over.

My money is still on Project HAMMER, by the way. I think that expecting Scalebound on the Switch is reaching beyond reaching, at least until further proof surfaces, but if by any chance it IS true, then I'd be quite impressed, especially if they would manage to get the game up and running in it's former state on the Switch, seeing as the Xbox One was already having trouble running it, so when it happens, we should probably expect either a MASSIVELY downscaled game, or a completely different one.

Perhaps even the original idea that was once planned for the Wii...

I'm Imagine Nintendo was helpful Microsoft Studio. But now Microsoft Studio doesn't helpful anymore was shift PlatinumGames.

@SBandy we all know what happens when a xbox game get cancelled and revived you get something as bad as crackdown 3.
No one would want that

@ThanosReXXX "he at least would stand the most chance to know what might have actually become of the game"

Well if were going strictly by - who would I ask first, a guy who used to work there, or a guy on Youtube, I'm going w/ the former employee 100% of the time.

But if after speaking to the former employee he tells me the words in that tweet - "I don't know. I don't work there anymore. I don't speak to anyone there anymore." Well then I'd be crazy to tell other people - "Oh look, this guy who says he doesn't know anything knows the truth about something the doesn't know anything about."

The headline of this article might as well be - "Guy Who Says He Doens't Know Anything Tells Us the Truth About What is Going On".

I think he's the right person to ask, but it's a giant leap of faith, and outright distortion, to take his admission of not knowing anything and turning it into he's telling the truth about a game not being made.

Again, had he said he knew, Id' believe him, had he given an explanation for why the game isn't being made - code was deleted, MS owns it - anything, I'd believe that too. But all he said was "I don't know." So to me that's really no better than a rando towards getting us any closer to the truth.

And you're probably right, it's probably Project HAMMER, HD rumble would be great for that. Probably isn't Scalebound for numerous reasons. But his saying so isn't one of those reasons, any more than rando YouTuber saying it is.

Then again, how many people said Bayonetta 2 was going to be a Wii U exclusive before that was announced? Not me, and I really liked the original on PS3.

If Scalebound was built on UE4 it should run on Switch. If MS canned it b/c they wanted a multiplayer online game and P* wanted an offline single player game, more reason to cancel it on X1 and move it to Switch. And you're right about the name, it shouldn't be called Scalebound. But that's a stupid name anyway, call it "Dragon Stories", like 'Monster Hunter Stories", make it a sequel to that game.

Do you know there are people who think Dreams wasn't announced 5 years ago b/c when they showed off the game they never named it. The guy gave an 8 minute presentation of the game engine and he kept saying the word "dreams" over and over, but he never called the game that. So know when I say the game his been in development for 5 years people are like - "No, only 3, when they announced it, that wasn't Dreams five years ago."

So if a game that looks like Scalebound gets announced on the Switch, and it's called "Dragon Stories", a lot of people will say it isn't Scalebound b/c of the name. There are a lot of strange people out there. So no, I never expect to play Scalebound on the Switch, but I'll take any game where me and my pet dragon are fighting other dragons.

So maybe this guy is right, Scalebound never will be on the Switch. 😜

He literally says he doesn't know lol

I'd be fine with this one not coming to fruition. The videos I've seen of this thing do not interest me. I was hoping for Project HAMMER.

@rjejr You can't give the guy just as much (or rather: as little) credit as any "rando" out there, after having agreed with me that if anyone out of all the people talking about it COULD know, it would more than likely be him...

And I considered why he said he didn't know, gave an option for that, but that apparently doesn't seem likely to you, then, or you missed it. Either way: we agree on the canceled and revived game not being Scalebound, so that's ultimately all that matters.

What does make me wonder, though, and what I also mentioned earlier, is why he seems so adamant about it. If he really didn't have a clue, then why would he say that he deems it highly unlikely? That to me does indicate him knowing at least something. Maybe not any recent info, but still enough to know that the game is SO far in limbo, that it's just never going to happen, regardless of whatever else is done to it.

And another option, however far-fetched, although I don't think it is, is that he got some recent inside info, and the person giving it to him, just told him ""but you didn't hear this from me", something that I also already mentioned, when I said that he could possibly also be protecting somebody still working there, for leaking info that was not supposed to be known to outsiders.

Then again: a game definitely not being revived hardly sounds like NDA stuff, so it could easily be discussed by former colleagues over a cup of coffee or a beer and a burger...

And seeing as he was the creative director, he might still be invested in it to such an extent, that he would like to know what's ultimately going to happen with all the work he put in, regardless of him not working there anymore.

Oh, and one major flaw in the thinking process that I've seen several people make is that they think that just because the Switch can run the Unreal Engine, and that is even besides the point of it being Unreal 3 or 4, that doesn't mean that it can also run just about any game made with that engine, because that's another story altogether.

Case in point: Kingdom Hearts 3, also an Unreal Engine 4 game, and also not coming to Switch. And from all we've read from Scalebound, it was going to be FAR more ambitious in scope than any Kingdom Hearts game, including the latest outing, was ever going to be, so it's not as cut and dried as that.

And Microsoft canned it for more reasons than the disagreement between what the Platinum team wanted it to be, and what they wanted it to be. They also had problems getting it to run smoothly, and there were a number of other issues with the game as well.

he hasnt worked there in years yet somehow everytime platinum rumors start people quote him like he knows something

@sikthvash nice Black Adder reference :^)

Well it's a better guess than Project H.A.M.M.E.R.

@KingdomHeartsFan I couldn't care less about hitting a "nope" as you say. I was just sharing a different opinion and let you know that some people appreciate articles on rumours as long as they are clearly marked as rumours and not click baits.
This way you wouldn't focus your anger (and you seem to have a lot!) at NL reporters and might take a step back to understand why they are reporting rumours.
There was nothing aggressive in my comments, so don't be on the defensive like that. If you don't want to take a step back and remain angry, then so be it. I still hope you have a nice day and that my comment didn't ruin your day yesterday

@KingdomHeartsFan Man you got me. I thought I could outsmart you but you are so clever I didn't stand a chance. I tried to convince you to change your mind but I ended up changing my mind. I now hate all article about rumours and will militate to get all rumours banned in Europe (possibly the universe). Thank you so much for opening my mind.

@ThanosReXXX My take on his reaction - over inflated ego.

Here's a guy so full of himself that he doesn't think it's possible for something to happen without his knowing about it that he simply assumes it's "fake news" b/c if it were true he would know. That's how I read his tweet, like an overly possessive ex-boyfriend who refuses to believe his ex-girlfriend is married or pregnant b/c she was once his so "of course he would know" if something like that had happened. I'm sure you've met people like that over there, way too many of them over here. He calls BS b/c his ego won't let him believe something like that could have happened without his knowledge.

As for Switch running it. Of course there would need to be some modifications made, but Switch isn't the 3DS. Look at some of the games on it. Doom, Astral Chain, Deamon X Machina. Switch could pull ofa version of what we saw of Scalebound. Wii U pulled off Bayonetta 2 quite nicely, similar looking game, same dev. I trust Platinum, they aren't Playtonic. 😝

@rjejr True, but none of these games are massive, open worlds. Scalebound was supposed to be Monster Hunter-like, and then some. The fidelity of the graphics, and the required frame rate were already an issue on the Xbox One, so there's just no way the Switch could improve on that without scaling the graphics down to 480p or something around that number, especially in handheld mode.

And it was supposed to be always online, like Destiny and such.

As for your sentiments on the guy: I'm almost afraid to say it, but it again sounds WAY too negative for me. Then again: I am obviously out of touch with modern day American society, other than what we see in the news and documentaries, so if there actually are a lot of over-inflated people like you describe, then I guess I'll have to take your word for it, to some extent.

But I'm not entirely ruling out my own previous musings, as possible options. In my opinion, the Tweet was too short to attach any kind of label to it, that might define what kind of a person he is/could be.

PLLLLEEEEASE let it be Eternal Darkness!

Considering, if it were true, the hardware limitations would cause for a complete rework/reboot for the Switch. Would be more like "Scaledback" as opposed to Scalebound.. just sayin'

@YeshaYahu5417 HAHAHA scaledback made me laugh hard.

So I guess ppl are still so far back in tech that they either don't see the possibilities of Scaling or just don't get it yet, but here it is again and yet they still aren't getting the possibility of what N can do with the Switch and third parties, MS is getting it and Sony will be left out in the cold, weather Scalebound will or won't be resurrected or not is irrelevant, what is are the endless possibilities of the CLOUD, just watch what Google has to announce in March.