Microsoft Needs To Improve Their Relations With Japanese Game Developers

With the announcement of the unfortunate cancellation of the hotly anticipated Xbox One exclusive title, Scalebound, it seems that Microsoft has dealt themselves another blow to their momentum. This isn't this first time Microsoft has had an issue with Japanese developers, and certainly doesn't seem to be the last.

[Genuine-User]

I'll be absolutely furious If platinum goes bust because of Microsoft's mismanagement.

Edit: for those questioning why I put the blame on Microsoft? Well it's because the relative 'evidence' suggests that MS handled the project rather poorly; they set ridiculous milestones with poor funding and even withholding pay.

As for Platinum going bust:

"a significant portion of Platinum workers are without a task, Kamiya on mental health leave, and the studio bereft of payment for a month of work."
http://m.neogaf.com/showthr...

And then there's this:

http://i.imgur.com/j6LFpLX....

[Overload]

I would HIGHLY suggest people read these 2 articles.

Why Xbox failed in Japan
http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

Japan is just a symptom of Xbox' problems
http://www.gamesindustry.bi...

[Genuine-User]

I'll give the articles a read later today. Thanks for sharing.

[Overload]

No problem.

[il-JumperMT]

"The Xbox did not fail in Japan, is not continuing to fail in Japan, because people here don't want to buy a product from a foreign company"

Whomever even came up with the statement Japanese dont buy foreign products must be blind and deaf.

[Perjoss]

I had read that first one before, the 2nd link was a good read though, thanks man.

[DaveO_TZR]

These are both great articles that go more in depth with the issues Microsoft had in Japan than my article, which is more just a direct call for Microsoft to wake up. Thanks for sharing!

[yeahright2]

@ jumperMT, iphones? makes me wonder if he researched it at all. took me all of two seconds to come up with that example.

[holdmyown83]

Damn that was a good read. Kept me up past my bed time. Thanks!

[Overload]

I'm glad all of you enjoyed them. The contrast between the different markets is quite shocking.

[Eonjay]

Xbox has like 0% market share in Japan. That is the So, they need to be as good as they can with Japanese devs.

[Puertorock77]

Great read. Thanks.

[lelo2play]

Why do you assume it's Microsoft's fault?
I guess Microsoft is at fault for every 3rd party studio going bust. /s

Scalebound has been in development for 4 years. A studio that can't finish a game in 4 years... has problems.

[Liqu1d]

Why do you assume it isn't Microsoft's fault?

It's possible that Platinum needed assistance and Microsoft were unwilling to offer help.

[Fishy Fingers]

After 3 years of investment MS might of been unwilling to help? Oxymoronic.

I mean it's cool to make assumptions but MS cancelled Scalebound, not your common sense.

[FunAndGun]

It could be a combination.

The game was announced in 2014, since then MS has changed their direction with all games being available on Windows 10. This could have thrown many wrenches in the development and timeline.

We don't know yet.

[UntrainedN00B01]

Perhaps platinum games have been spending MS money and development time on their other projects and got caught out

[trooper_]

So whose fault is it?

Leprechauns?

[notachance]

why not try reading that neogaf article genuine shared?
what they did with Darkside (Panthom Dust ex-developer) disgust me, I'm an IT guy so I know what it means for developer when client one-sidedly changed project scopes. It's not that simple, even if they increase budget and timeline there are things that have to be incorporated from scratch, meaning it's not uncommon for developer to totally scrap on-going work and start from scratch when a client changed their scopes, and that can really cause a stress on the team. Now imagine if that scope change are forced without budget and timeline increase, AND done quite often, not just once or twice like they did with Darkside...

still think MS is all cool and sunshine?

[Automatic79]

@lelo2play

I wouldn't pay mind to Overload and Genuine User they are both anti-Xbox every single day, including knocking Xbox One games for years, now they concerned about a cancellation regarding a game that was in development for 4 years. They are toxic to the gaming community and now they trying to perpetrate fraud like behaviors just to keep there hate train alive. Don't waste your time.

[gangsta_red]

I'm not going to say MS didn't have anything to do with it, but I won't automatically go putting the full blame on them (yet).

We can see that Platinum being a small developer may have stretched their staff to far. I mean with Transformers, TMNT, Starfox AND Neir, plus they were working on Scalebound.

Something had to give and it looks like it may have been Scalebound.

[rocketpanda]

Meanwhile while Rockstar and Bethesda spend more than 4 year developing and crafting open world games.

Platinum gets hired to do it with added 4 player coop and MS expects them to just finish the game so easily. Maybe if they didn't spend so much money marketing and making gimmicky accessories two times they would have fresh first party titles rather than the usual Forza, Halo and Gears.

[YEP414]

Genuine -
It's Microsoft fault platinum games shows no progress in its games...stop it

[fenome]

Well Nier seems to be coming along just fine, so...

[XXanderXX]

How does MS investment in their contracted IP cause a whole company to go bust. Seeing how PG had other teams working on other projects for other plats . The only way they go bust is they are run by morons .

[_-EDMIX-_]

I don't disagree with you in that regard.

[gangsta_red]

And then there's this...

http://www.screencast.com/t...

Who to believe eh?

[Genuine-User]

That pretty much corroborates with what I said. Or am I missing something?

[gangsta_red]

No, it actually doesn't corroborates with what placing all the blame on MS and then getting "upset" that Platinum may shut down.

This tweet along with other rumors implies that Platinum took on to many other projects (TNMNT, Starfox, Neir, etc) and couldn't handle the workload of Scalebound.

Senior members leave due to stress and the work falls behind schedule even more.

[Genuine-User]

"No, it actually doesn't corroborates with what placing all the blame on MS"

Yes it does.

"This tweet along with other rumors implies that Platinum took on to many other projects"

No it doesn't. That tweet is specifically talking about Scalebound.

Several senior members were forced to take a month away from the project's (i.e. Scalebounds) heavy workload.

And what did I say?

Microsoft set ridiculous milestones with poor funding and even withholding pay.

"a significant portion of Platinum workers are without a task, Kamiya on mental health leave, and the studio bereft of payment for a month of work."

[CrazedFiend]

Wow! Adam Bolton...

[Herbalistic]

Microsoft could have done that ages ago but instead they steered Xbox into a pure western brand.

[Nu]

Nintendo needs to improve relationships in the west

[Genuine-User]

Absolutely.

[DaveO_TZR]

May write that article depending on what happens at the Switch event on Thursday

[jaymacx]

Saying this as a long time nintendo supporter NOA is horrible.

Sony has the best balance of the big 3 and its probably why they sell the best worldwide. Nintendo could learn a bit from SCEA for their NOA. But let us not get ahead or ourselves... western devs made it known what they wanted from Nintendo and it seems Nintendo listened so maybe we will see improvements there. Bethesda is supporting them now.. maybe now they can find what ppl wanna play on Switch.

[_-EDMIX-_]

I'd say as of right now Sony is the best example of what Microsoft and Nintendo should be doing if they want to continue to stay in the market and be competitive.

Stop wasting money on third-party exclusive and double down on building a strong internal days because there was no reason that the Wii U and 3DS was lunching with such poor support especially coming after the extremely successful ends exactly where did that money go?

There is no reason for Sony to sell less than Nintendo last generation yet they're producing more properties and they have more teams it begs the question what Nintendo is doing with the money they've been making and who exactly is making the decision to continue to lowball and not invest in these properties despite knowing their entire company rides on the software being successful?

The way I look at it is they were clear opportunities for Nintendo to purchase Retro games, bizarre creations, even Atlus.

Whoever's the higher-ups at Nintendo seriously in my opinion need to get fired because they have not been keeping the best interest for Nintendo as a company or its fans because I remember seeing all these Acquisitions and thinking in my mind Nintendo literally could have purchased many of these teams to fill out gaps so they can have a beast Arsenal.

There's a Sleeper Cell in that company that is basically trying to make them fail because I honestly believe that a lot of this company's issues over the last 10 years and simply came from not bringing in enough new consumers something that they could have done with the purchase of multiple brand-new teams.

I want you guys to remember that Namco Bandai worked on Smash Brothers...,....

[_-EDMIX-_]

Nintendo needs to do what Square Enix did and purchase a western developer especially if there's a developer that is open to purchase.

Square Enix close relationship to Eidos was it big deal from that purchase though.

That was one of Square Enix smartest purchases. They basically now have Deus Ex Hitman and Tomb Raider along with the talent that can create new intellectual properties for the West at any moment

I think Nintendo needs to do what Sony did last generation and basically start ignoring third-party exclusives and double down on internal development.

I'm sorry but I don't want to see another paper Mario or Star Fox outsourced to another team....

For an established franchise like that, that is just something you would not see Sony or Microsoft do to one of their top properties.

Nintendo very much can afford to make some smart acquisitions.

[notachance]

you should've seen how it is in Asia (apart from Japan and Korea)

all 3 console's support are abysmal
Sony is the least bad, they have dedicated region number and somewhat little support although warranty is still provided in many countries, but the ps store is discriminative if you compare it to JP/NA/EU store, almost no sale, huge gap in available game library, demo, etc. Thankfully their consoles are region free so we often just buy NA/EU copy of the game if it isn't available here.

Nintendo downright doesn't have dedicated region for Asia we have to buy everything North America here, from console to game to nintendo wallet and you can only cry when they're holding an exclusive pokemon event or something.

Xbox is.. well in my countries almost no one buy any of their console including me, people are just downright ignoring that brand... so I don't know how their support is here.

Steam is by far the best platform supporting my region, so it's no wonder there are much much more PC players here than there are console players.

Yes, there exists a region with more PC players than console players.
UWP still sucks *ss though

[Warshade]

Why bother. Just open a bunch of new dev. studios and tell them all to make FPS games. That will keep their fanbase happy.

[DaveO_TZR]

You're not really wrong about that, but it's about expanding the fan base, not doubling down on the one they already have.

[jaymacx]

Great point... get games for all gamers not just the shooter market.

[solderman]

Relations will only improve until Xbox stops looking like the "America! f**k yeah" box.

[King_Lothric]

The TrumpBox One 😁

[Kabaneri]

Japanese games dont sell well on it, simply put. The only thing keeping Xbox afloat is the dudebro normies it caters to who only play COD and FIFA.

[Fishy Fingers]

Ironically Playstations biggest and most popular games of the year, COD and FIFA (even paid up for exclusive content I believe).

Of course you want to support as broad a variety of games on your platform as possible but let's not act as if the vast majority of PS owners are any different from XB. It's the same games/genres dominating both systems year on year.

[Darkfist_Flames]

and yet other variety of games still sell/support on ps4 better than xbone, sunset overdrive anyone, and also look at FF xv compare to ps4 and thats supposed to be a popular brand in the west.

[Fishy Fingers]

I think you've missed the point of my post, that is that 90% of PS and XB gamers are playing the same type of games year on year.

You're not somehow a 'lesser class of gamer' like Kabaneri is suggesting because you play COD on your XB rather than on a PS.

[ZeroX9876]

I did buy BF1 and sometimes I do buy a sport franchise on PS4, but those games are available everywhere. It won't make me choose one system over the other. What did are the likes of Infamous, Persona 5, bloodborne, R&C and other games from various genres.

It's not just because some play COD on X1 or PS4, it's the actual mentality behind each fanbase. For some reasons, Every PS fans I came across with are always more open minded about various genres, whether Xbox Fans I came across only talks about shooters/racing games.

[Kabaneri]

Thats definitely true however, compare the sales of Sony Exclusives to Xbox exclusives. For whatever reason, Sony has a more diverse catalog of games that are supported well by their community. This generation, not even the established franchise shooters like Halo 5 and Gears 4 sold anywhere near as well as their predecessors. And pretty much all of Microsoft's attempts at a new IP this gen have fallen flat.

[ShaunCameron]

That's because the PS4 inherited a good chunk of people who did most of their gaming on the 360, though those games fared well with the PS crowd.

[Lennoxb63]

Japanese games don't sell well on the PS.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

Microsoft has been trying to penetrate the Japanese game market for over a decade, and has had little success doing so. The Xbox division should be focusing on games that appeal to the west. Bring back the IPs that the Xbox user base has been wanting for years, instead of investing 100s of millions, into probable flops directed at the Japanese market.

[DaveO_TZR]

I don't agree that Microsoft should abandon the Japanese game market but I DEFINITELY agree that they need to bring back some of their old IPs. New Crimson Skies would be AWESOME.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

The fan base has been asking for games like Banjo, Mech Assault, Conker, Perfect Dark and Crimson Skies for years. The demand for those old IPs is blatantly apparent. Maybe, MS is reluctant to invest into them, since they likely wouldn't do huge numbers, but have good chance of solid sales (in my opinion at least).

Aside: I like Crimson Skies, but unfortunately I can't beat High Road to Revenge, since I'm terrible at flying lol.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Do we really know what happened between Platinum and Microsoft? Platinum pitched this game two other times and it failed to get anywhere. Microsoft bought into the idea the third time, but it could just be that they were unsatisfied with the projects duration. I read somewhere that Platinum had some issues with the engine.

[rlow1]

Again, bunch of speculation with no clue on what really happened. Funny how all these drones take any opportunity to bash MS, but again they know nothing of what truly happened. The articles people are citing, again just speculation. The old adage of "it takes two to tangle" can easily apply and what did platinum do to bring this around? But to the drones it will be big bad MS that is the sole responsible party no matter what.

[corroios]

What relationship?

[Perjoss]

Japan: stalking me on Facebook and Instagram doesn't mean were a thing you know
Microsoft: Sorry :(

[LightofDarkness]

Again it is clear that no one here has any experience in software development and hasn't even bothered reading the troubled history of this project.

This game was one of the first big ideas Platinum Games came up with. They began expanding on the concept over time but shelved the project to get Bayonetta out and other projects for other publishers and partners.

It is also clear that Platinum had essentially been jerking MS around on this project, most likely viewing them as an infinite money source and that they could continue taking on other projects and releasing them in the meantime, diverting development focus from SB every time. Naturally, MS found this attitude to be galling and eventually unprofessional. If you have read Kamiya's tweets, it's obvious that he tends to fly off the handle a bit. Imagine having a working relationship with that man.

More to that, the team simply couldn't get things running smoothly on the vanilla XBO. Despite strenuous efforts to iron out the technical kinks, the team became exhausted with little to show. With Platinum apparently able to devote enough time and resources to get the likes of Nier finished on time, the relationship inevitably crumbled, and MS ceased funding the project. Due to Kamiya being placed on leave for mental health reasons, it's safe to assume he exploded on them and doomed the project.

This sounds a lot more like Platinum over exerting themselves (who didn't see this coming) and MS tired of pumping money into a project that was failing still 4 years into development.

[whitesoxfalife1976]

finally some sense awesome comment of the day!!!!!

[MasterCornholio]

Platinum does have multiple teams. Maybe the issue just lies with the team that was developing Scalebound?

[OMGitzThatGuy]

I dont know many studios that can pump out as many games as Platinum but cant finish their most ambitious title. If a studio takes on a exclusive project and is being funded to do so, I think it would be better to focus all resources to get the project done. It's different if they had their own publisher and worked at their own pace but they are paying you for a reason.

[XXanderXX]

No they don't and they tried to play nice with Xbox 360 all they got was lost Odyssey & Blue dragon from their be nice attempt. Then proceeded to get hostile crap from the field cause for some reason them pricks didn't like the companies way of running it self . So me personally leave them developers where they lay. No need to waste money on those studios especially since Thier no major consumer base out in Japan.

[will313]

Microsoft actually should abandon original Japanese development. It's a waste of time and money honestly. If you couldn't wrangle in weebs with the fathers of Final Fantasy and Dragonball (Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey), then there is no getting them at that point. Lets be honest those are the guys that are upset, the weebs, the fucking guys who are so blinded by their love of Japanese developers that they would make Geoff Kieley blush. I think that for too long they have been trying to cater to an audience that will NEVER accept them and it has costed them way too much to this point. If you actually like the XBox brand you likely didnt buy it for fucking Japanese games. MS introduced console players to Bethesda and Bioware, to Mech Assualt and Crimson Skies...they need to bring THAT shit back...let Sony and Nintendo fight over the weeb vote. If they get a Final Fantasy here and there and maybe the occasional Capcom fighting game (a finished one hopefully) I think they will be fine.

[sullynathan]

Probably not,they just need more exclusives

[nowitzki2004]

Well Japanese developers could help with that..

[sullynathan]

So could non-Japanese ones

[n4rc]

That was the idea with scale bound.. didn't turn out that great.. lol

[Major_Glitch]

Microsoft needs to do a LOT of things. The first thing they need to do is learn the definition of the word "exclusive".

[n4rc]

Perhaps you do..

Inclusive = available to all
Exclusive = not available to all

There isn't a single bit of its definition that means only available to one single person/thing etc.. that's something you guys decided to start doing on your own

[Major_Glitch]

Lol. You really need to get a better dictionary. Poor thing.

[n4rc]

In words such as expel, export, and exclusive, the prefix ex- means "out of, outside". Thus, to exclude means basically to close the door in order to keep someone or something out. When the word appears in an advertisement, it's often making an appeal to snobs. An "exclusive" offer is supposedly made to only a few people; not so many years ago, "exclusive" housing developments excluded those of a certain race or color. If a product is being sold exclusively by one store, you won't be able to find it anywhere else. When a newspaper or news show has an exclusive, it's a story that no one else has yet reported. Exclusive's antonym is inclusive; an inclusive policy, an inclusive church, or an inclusive approach is one that aims to include as many people as possible.

tldr.. youre an idiot... lol.. you cant play it on playstation or nintendo platforms... therefore its exclusive by definition

[rigo8582]

Not seeing why Microsoft gets so much hate. Platinum knew the terms of the agreement and had no problem cashing those microsoft checks. To be honest Platinum hasn't impressed me in the past few years.

Granted this is an apples to oranges comparison but if I hire a contractor to build me a house and the terms were they would be finished in 6 months. After 6 months they're not done, and they say they need another month to finish. Then after 7 months they're not even close to being done and what is done looks terrible. Then on top of that they take a month vacation. Yeah I would probably stop building and fire them. Then look for a new contractor. So I can't fault microsoft for putting a stop to the project.

[Godmars290]

Get the notion that it was Windows 10 that did Scalebound in. Something not in existence or planned for when whatever deal was made.

PC gamers seem to keep forgetting, even though all games are made on PCs, that porting to multiple platforms is neither simple nor inexpensive. And then there was the MP aspect to what was a SP game which was probably something MS insist on.

[n4rc]

didn't Forza get ported to win10 in a week with a handful of people?

[Godmars290]

@n4rc:
You're comparing an ongoing 1st party franchise that features online multiplayer to what was a new IP from a 2nd party that by observation started out as singleplayer. A 3D beat'em up to a driving sim at that. Way too many differences.

[n4rc]

what difference does that make in regards to porting it over? if it could be done for forza, it can be done for this game..

changing the game is another story.. adding MP etc... but was scalebound not always shown as a coop game?

[Godmars290]

@n4rc:
The difference isn't in porting but rather an apparent SP game was having MP forced onto it, with the also-must-have PC port another complicated layer for a title that likely didn't have to consider such when it was first conceived.

I think Scalebound was something Platinum could have done quite easily as a SP on the XB1, but MS wanted it as both a multiplayer on multiple, varying, systems because despite what PC gamers believe PCs are not a singular platform. Turn 10, as a MS company, is just more comfortable with that sort of thing.

[Godmars290]

Never happen because MS doesn't think about Japanese gamers.

[jznrpg]

It seems like they are done in Japan , the culture of Xbox is already established , its a western only shooter racer console with limited games. It will take a massive effort to change that MS board and shareholders aren't willing to take that risk financially or to take another image hit, they will become a service like they always wanted to be

[Xavy]

MS destroyes everything they touch like cancer, they are bad for gamers and devs. This is not the first time they have done this look at phantom dust. Phil and co with their damn Xbone div needs to go.

[metalgod88]

Microsoft burned that bridge long ago. Japanese developers don't want to work with them because nobody buys their console in japan. Why build a game and put it on a console that nobody is going to play on said console..

[DeadManMMX]

I think they should just forget about Japan and only stick with the top companies with an international presence like. They always seem like they half ass it on the xbox versions of these games. They are always poorly optimized ports. Remedy, Insomniac, Crystal Dynamics, Crytek, Capcom Vancouver, and other 3rd party studios had no problems delivering their games on time and finished. You don't hear horror stories from them. Just the studios that couldn't cut it. Instead of focusing on finishing one or two games at a time and putting a real polish on them. They haphazardly took on more projects then they could handle for a studio of their size. 4 years and no product in fact a product deemed so unworthy they canceled it altogether. If they canceled the game something was wrong. seriously wrong. Platinum's story seems pretty clear just by looking back at what they have done in the last year and a half. Instead of blaming the MS boogeyman just because. Take a hard look at what this studio has been producing and see how they are favoring quantity over quality.

[C-H-E-F]

That's like saying USA needs to improve their relations with China lOl... DUHH will it happen probably not.. Microsoft is the USA to computer software. Oh wait it is an American corp. explains it.

[BlackIceJoe]

If MS really is smart they'd buy Konami. Because that company has been doing poorly, recently and MS would gain a huge amount of IPs too. Another plus is Konami owns the rights to Hudson Soft and lots of those games would be perfect Xbox Live arcade games. So in the end, this is a win, win.

[Razzer]

Konami isn't exactly a company anyone loves these days. Konami owned by Microsoft.....that doesn't bode well in Japan or anywhere.

[BlackIceJoe]

That was my point with the company doing poorly. If MS bought them I doubt they'd cancel any of their games because of how much it cost to buy Konami. That being said I wish anyone would buy Konami and do something with those IPs. Konami alone holds some great IPs, but I personally want to see the Hudson Soft IPs get reborn.

[franwex]

Why invest in something that doesn't give you good returns? The Japanese aren't even buying ps4s. They are all mobile mostly and Microsoft doesn't have a mobile platform. As a business decision it makes sense as to why Microsoft withholds support.
We are the ones who would benefit mostly because we know of all the untapped potential the Japanese have.

[Brohan]

How dumb can you all be? You know Microsoft would be paying for the development for these games and if they paid them a lump some and then decided they didn't like what they made or the progress they may have put. They would just stop their funding for the game and what they do with the license is between them. At this point it doesn't break there company but Microsoft may lose out in cash and that is there choice.

[Max-Zorin]

They need to skip Japan, and focus on the West. The Japanese will not like Xbox, no matter what they do. They probably don't even use Microsoft Office.

[Brisco]

Japanese games .. I rather not play them

[NeoGamer232]

So a developer continually misses milestones to the point where they stop paying them, and some how it is Microsoft not getting along with Japanese developers?