Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya has a message for Xbox CEO Asha Sharma: When she’s ready to make Scalebound, he’ll be waiting.
The action-game mastermind and Clovers studio head spoke about his desire to return to his canceled dragon IP during a recent interview with VGC. It’s been a little more than nine years since Microsoft finally, officially confirmed it had shut down Scalebound after PlatinumGames announced it in 2014. Still, Kamiya said he’s always ready to breathe life back into it.
When asked if he’s contacted Sharma about Scalebound, he said, “Well, no, but now’s my opportunity to once again say that if they want to do it, let’s make it happen!”
“[Clovers president Kento Koyama] is on board too,” he added. Kamiya then asked the site to include some of what little Scalebound footage was released to the public just so Sharma could take a look.
Kamiya and the rest of PlatinumGames announced the now-canned Xbox One-exclusive action-RPG 12 years ago at E3 2014. A lot has changed since then.
Scalebound eventually returned for gamescom 2015, one year later, but then mostly went quiet. A delay to 2017 then stoked fears that the project may be in trouble, with a follow-up report then suggesting it could be in trouble before Microsoft delivered the final blow.
Although Kamiya no longer works at PlatinumGames, he confirmed he had moved on to help form Clovers in late 2024. Although that team is heads down working on Okami 2, it doesn’t mean he isn’t hoping to return to Scalebound one day. It’s a project he and other PlatinumGames devs have expressed interest in returning to plenty of times over the years. Now, he’s hoping Sharma can help make it happen.
During his interview with VGC, Kamiya recalled a recent dinner he had with some of the Scalebound team. He noted the canceled video game wasn’t the only thing they talked about, but “it did come up a few times,” and they “all remembered how fun it was to work” on it.
“Obviously, there were some tough times as well, but the fact that people still look back on that time with a lot of fun is something that I find very gratifying as the director of the project,” Kamiya explained. “Of course, it’s very unfortunate that the project was unable to see the light of day ultimately, and that is something that even now I still very strongly desire to be able to see through if it’s all possible, and I’m being one hundred percent serious when I say that.
Kamiya said Clovers “might not be in a position” to work on Scalebound “right this second,” but it’s still something he’s seeking out. He went as far as to say, “I strongly believe that if you want something strongly enough, you eventually find a way to make it happen.”
“That’s the case with Okami right now,” he continued, “where even after all these years, the opportunity once again presented itself, and I hope that will be the case with Scalebound in the future as well.”
Like Kamiya, Xbox has gone through its own changes recently. Sharma took over for Phil Spencer as CEO in February of this year, leading to a waterfall of snappy changes at Microsoft’s gaming wing that have been received both positively and negatively by fans. For example, the company announced last week it would allow players to digitize their physical games. That move in particular seems to have gone over well with fans, but it’s done little to cushion the blow that came after Xbox announced it would be laying off 3,200 staff and shedding studios like Double Fine and Ninja Theory in July.
Whether Sharma and the rest of Xbox have room to make Scalebound happen remains to be seen. While we wait to see what the future holds, you can read what Kamiya had to say about the game in 2021.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).