Why Platinum Games may never work with a publisher again

Co-founders Hideki Kamiya and Atsushi Inaba discuss the acclaimed studio's self-funded future and determination to own its IP.

[Nyxus]

"This creative desire may have been long in the making, but undoubtedly the biggest push was Microsoft's surprise cancellation of Scalebound, a long-in-development new fantasy IP that Platinum was working on for the Xbox firm. The impact of this move by Microsoft cannot be understated - had it not been for smash hit Nier: Automata, which released just a few months later, Platinum Games would have faced financial bankruptcy."

It's a good thing Nier: Automata was such a success!

[maybelovehate]

Why do you quote the one thing written as opinion by the author over the actual quoted reasons from the studio? The studio never mentions scalebound as a reason, they mention Bayonetta.

[UCForce]

Cancelled Scalebound is still the worst MS decision ever make. So yes, gaming media and community will always remember that. Thank to Nier, that game saved Platinum Game.

[Nyxus]

@ Reaprr: it's a direct excerpt from the article, and Kamiya has in fact suggested that PG was saved by the success of Nier. Not sure what the big problem is here.

[maybelovehate]

@gamezero: Why do you want to ignore that platinum temporily shut down production of the game and that the director went on medical leave? Scalebound was a mistake by MS, but the demise of it wasn't their fault.

[darthv72]

@zero, why do you want to blame MS for canceling a game that obviously was taking the back seat while PG was finishing up Nier?

If I hired someone to do a job and found out they werent putting in their best effort to do it because they were doing a job for someone else... guess what happens?

Now maybe perhaps canceling the entire project was a bit extreme but it was their decision. Who knows... it may still have a chance at getting finished by another developer.

[Imalwaysright]

Because fanboys will be fanboys.

@ gamerzero

Don't forget about PC gamers.

[Eiyuuou]

@darthv72

That’s just speculation on your part.

[bluefox755]

But we see this time and time again. MS struggles to have good, successful relationships with the studios they work with. I get the feeling that they're too hands on with the development of studios they own or work with.

[gangsta_red]

@gamerzero

Pretty sure that Platinum made more games before Scalebound that didn't burn up the charts or do well in sales.

Luckily the success of Neir put them back on the straight and narrow.

"..it's has been discussed numerious times in the past."

It's been speculated, rumored and never confirmed.

"Listen Microsoft could have handled it differently, look how long Crackdown has been in production..."

Which more than likely means something on Platinum's end wasnt working correctly.

But I get it's easier to blame it all on MS to rack up XP on this site.

[Nyxus]

@ threefootwang:

"Even though everyone outside N4G is more than aware that Platinum Games screwed up Scalebound, on this site it's clearly without a doubt MS's fault."

Source?

[Srhalo]

Guys, it's not like Microsoft only canceled Scalebound. They canceled Fable, Adrift, Phantom Dust and Project Spark and they closed a ton of studios most were smaller but it included bigger studios like Lionhead and Press Play.

You hardcore Xbox fans want to deflect everything from Microsoft but the reality is they were closing studios and canceling games and Scalebound got caught up in that. Look at Microsoft's game line-up the past few years and it's hard to make the case that Microsoft hasn't been making poor decisions, including canceling Scalebound.

Being an Xbox fan doesn't mean just blinding giving them a pass. You need to admit they have screwed up royalty this generation especially the past few years.

[Godmars290]

@UCForce:
No. Insisting on online multiplayer, which clearly had no reason being in an obvious SP title, was.

[gangsta_red]

@Godmars
When did MS insist on multiplayer, and when was Scalebound only a SP game?

[Omnislashver36]

Threefootwang

You serious? The game was in development for like 3 years. Even if MS had to put it on Xbox Two they should have.

[trooper_]

Scalebound could have been a great game if Microsoft allowed Platnium Games more freedom.

[Obscure_Observer]

@gamerzero

"Why do you want to ignore that Microsoft's bad decision nearly put one of the best studios out of business?"

Because they never said Microsoft´s "bad decision" almost put them out of business! That´s just another fanboy rhetoric BS based on no factual circumstances or whatsoever.

I dare you to try and bring us proof. I dare you to try and find ANY negative comment from Platinium or Kamiya blamming Microsoft over Scalebound´s cancellation or their current decision to self fund and publish their games.

I´ll wait.

[3-4-5]

@UCForce - "Cancelled Scalebound is still the worst MS decision ever make. So yes, gaming media and community will always remember that. Thank to Nier, that game saved Platinum Game. "

I disagree.

Microsoft disbanding Ensemble Studios was their worst decision. They made all the Age of Empire games.....classic games...never made a bad game...forced them to make halo wars on console and then disbanded them.

^ That + Never releasing a sequel to Crimson Skies + Shutting down the Crimson Skies servers were their worst decisions...at least for me.

[Imalwaysright]

gamerzero

So? Why not give credit to PC gamers that also bought the game and by doing so helped the studio? Why start a penis measuring contest? Oh wait, I forgot for a moment that this was N4g... carry on.

[Omnislashver36]

Honestly I hope Platinum allies with Square-Enix and Sony and does Drakengard in the future... Would be epic, considering they already do NEIR and had experience on Scalebound.

[darthv72]

@zero "That's never going to happen and you know it."... no I don't know it but I can be optimistic that it could.

@halo, lionhead closure and the subsequent Fable hiatus go hand in hand. Peter M was messing up at lionhead and dragging his feat with the new project. MS gave him opportunities but he never produced enough working results so they canned him and put the project on hold. Rumors are that it may be started back up again or has become something more but at the very least Fable is not dead.

[darthv72]

@zero... didn't the head of PG make a public appology and admit responsibility in the situation involving Scalebound? I seem to recall that being a hot topic on N4G a few months back. Maybe you can be a lamb and find it for us, or find where it was dis-proven since... you know... you care so much about it.

[UnHoly_One]

Why is everyone so convinced that cancelling Scalebound was a terrible decision?

Did you not watch the gameplay footage of that game that they showed off? It did not look good.

I was excited about it at first because I liked the concept of it, but the actual gameplay looked like salty garbage.

[Dragonscale]

@maybe, because its true fgs and not just the authors opinion and is an important point. It appears that ms wanted to own the scalebound ip and Platinum weren't happy. MS probably wanted to monetise it and release it on PC as well. Tbh Platinum tend to make complete single player games so weren't happy with MS' vision for the game. So many people defend MS over scalebounds cancellation even though they were probably culpable.

[notachance]

https://kotaku.com/how-a-sm...
the story behind Phantom Dust cancellation, the tl;dr version was that MS kept expanding the scope of the project (wanted to add full blown SP campaign amongst many other things) but hilariously refused to increase budget and timeline despite the scope is already way over what was in agreement

- previous gen MS and Level-5 debacle, given how the two companies didn't part ways on a good term there's probably little-to-no chance level-5 will put any of its title in XB anytime soon

- Platinum's track record on successfully producing exclusives for both Nintendo and Sony

oh you blind MS fanboy, the suspicion to MS is only on this site?? LMAO
you guys deserved the lack of games seriously, trashing one-sidedly on Platinum when MS obviously has so much mismanagement track record and Platinum has smooth track record on producing exclusives for other publishers

anyone with common sense could see it's most probably similar case as it was with Phantom Dust

[conanlifts]

@dragonscale

"because its true fgs and not just the authors opinion and is an important point. It appears that ms wanted to own the scalebound ip and Platinum weren't happy. "

Just for info ms do own the scalebound ip. They secured ownership of the ip when they funded the game at the beginning.

My thoughts on cancellation have always been that ms announced all games would suddenly be play anywhere. The deal to make scalebound was signed before this came into place. So my opinion is that ms wanted it to be play anywhere, platinum wanted more money to make this happen for the extra work. Maybe even compensations for potential lost revenue. Ms said no and cancelled it. Either that or platinum said no at the start as they didn't have the spare resources. But i suspect play anywhere is to be blame.

[Imalwaysright]

gamerzero

Why would I look for something when I know that is factually incorrect from the get go? Maybe you should send your resume to vgchartz as they too are well versed in the art of pulling numbers right from their ass.

[Razzer]

@notachance. Excellent point. Why do people act like MS hasn't been down this road with devs before?

What about Obsidian?

Stormlands and the million-man raid: Obsidian's cancelled Xbox One exclusive
https://www.eurogamer.net/a...

"Clearly a lot of work had been done. What, then, went wrong? There was a disconnect, a juxtaposition between a dreaming Microsoft on one hand and an Obsidian who had to realise the ideas on the other. One moment Obsidian was talking to a Microsoft executive producer about doing co-op, the next minute a new executive producer was pitching million-man raids. "We look at something like that and it's like, 'Holy Jesus!'" says Urquhart."

And people wonder why Kamiya had to take leave? With crap like that coming down from MS.....I can't imagine the stress.

[gangsta_red]

What's hilarious is yes MS has had a history of bad relations with some devs (like any other big game publisher) the difference here is people can actually pull up proof of those dealings as devs have been vocal when they have had those bad dealings.

And yet there's nothing for Platinum, no breaking story, no horror story on what MS forced them to do, not one artlce from anyone detailing what went wrong. All we're doing is saying "it's MS's fault because they had a bad run in with Charlie's Pixel Shop years back too!"

That's why it's hilarious to see people soley blame MS because of some other past deal that went bad and then assume it went down exactly like that with Platinum.

Let's also ignore MS dealings with developers that actually went right too. But that would be too hard to do and wouldn't fit the narrative here.

[choujij]

@darthv72 "no I don't know it but I can be optimistic that it could"

IMO, that's just wishful thinking given the circumstances. I don't see any way of being confident in that happening.

[Michiel1989]

@UCForce
It might be xbox worst decision, but maybe you are unaware microsoft owns windows, and they have made far far bigger mistakes with that platform

[Razzer]

Some of you really need to read the Phantom Dust article notachance posted from beginning to end. How MS demands were ever-changing and scope kept creeping up. It is the same tale sung by Obsidian!

https://kotaku.com/how-a-sm...

"After some heavy-duty conversations in the spring of 2014, the two companies walked away with a deal: http://n4g.com/news/2175048... would get a $5 million budget to build a multiplayer-only reboot of Phantom Dust, complete with a spectator mode, tournaments, and a complicated replay system allowing players to share files, according to one person familiar with the original pitch. The initial plan was to make it a competitive online sport, along the lines of Hearthstone and League of Legends. They gave it the codename Babel. "

"Suddenly, what was once a $5 million multiplayer reboot of Phantom Dust had become a $5 million multiplayer reboot of Phantom Dust with a six-hour single-player story mode attached. That meant Darkside would need more designers, more artists, and more programmers, all of which equated to extra time and money that they didn’t have. "

"As the months went on, things got shakier. Microsoft’s demands for the game increased, and the pressure got worse and worse as Redmond kept asking for new things, Darkside sources say. Microsoft wanted a longer single-player campaign; they wanted various features added and changed; they wanted Darkside to help contribute card art to the accompanying mobile game Microsoft had planned. “This kind of focus change happened on a nearly monthly basis,” said a person who worked on the game.
“They asked for things pretty quickly,” said a second person close to the studio. “We kept telling them, ‘We cannot make this game for the budget you want.’”

"So in mid-February, Darkside’s top leadership flew out to the corporation’s Redmond campuses for a meeting that they hoped would get them more money. Darkside made the pitch: to properly reboot Phantom Dust with both multiplayer arena battles and a sizable single-player campaign, they’d need more resources. It just wasn’t doable at $5 million.

Microsoft said no. "

lol.....$5 million? MS scrapped Phantom Dust because it wouldn't spend a dime over $5 million. So excuse some of us if we just can't seem to give Microsoft the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Scalebound.

Yes. I would absolutely love it if Platinum Games would one day reveal what happened with Scalebound. I'm certain that would be an interesting tale. As of yet, they are not talking and may never. That is their choice.

[Neonridr]

pretty sure that MS was paying for development of the game regardless. Bayonetta 2 and 3 were funded by Nintendo. It's not like Platinum has much to lose here, they were getting paid to do work. Saying they faced financial bankruptcy is a little far-fetched methinks.

[Goldby]

they were being paid for the developement, but when companies create budgets and expectations for the year, they dont just include the payment from publishers for it, devs make money off of a released game, not all 100% but they make money. if they inlcuded the expected sales and money it will bring in for platinum games in their yearly budget and then have the game cancel along with any chance of making money off of it, it can definitly put a company in the red, and even bankrupt a company.

not to mention theres evidence online that the game was supposed to be SP, yet seems like it was forced into a 4 player co-op adventure and not sure if the budget was renegotiated when MS wanted the GaaS set up fro it too.

[Neonridr]

@Goldby - I do agree with what you are saying, but to act like Platinum doesn't have other projects on the go here is a little silly.

[Goldby]

i didnt say they didnt.

budgets are built based off of the work required, and even with additional work, one job being cut loose can break a company.

if their operating costs are say 5 million a year (just using random numbers here)
and it was 2 mill expected to be recieved from scale bound, 2 mill from neir and 1 mill from bayonetta.
40% of therir operation budget is gone, that can break a company.

jkust my 2 cents

[Neonridr]

@Goldby - well their "operating costs" are what are provided by MS/Nintendo to make the actual game. I do agree that they might be banking on some profit from actual game sales, so that definitely hurts.

[Knushwood Butt]

'If a developer works for a publisher, then there are two main models.

Work for hire. The publisher pays the developer a negotiated fee for developing the game, and then they part ways. The developer gets no money from sales or other revenues, and has no other rights to the game, including to its characters.

Publishing license agreement. The publisher pays the developer an advance against royalties for developing the game; that is, the publisher pays the developers costs for making the game — but not all at once; the publisher pays the money out in increments when the developer completes pre-negotiated deliverables, called milestones. Then when the game is sold at retail, the developer gets a royalty; that is, a percentage of the sales — but not until after the advances have been earned out.
Let’s say the publisher advanced the developer $5M for developing the game. The developer will not receive one penny of royalties until the game has sold enough that the developer’s percentage of the sales would have been $5M. (Note that in all my years in the game industry, have I have never known a developer who worked on a project for me to have earned any royalties). In a publishing license agreement, the developer may also be granted certain rights, such as right of first refusal to make a sequel, or a percentage of character merchandise rights.'

https://davidmullich.com/20...

[combatcash]

Implying they faced financial bankruptcy because of a cancelled game is what seems farfetched to me. Me is known to pay the costs of games they put their name on, so yeah if they were facing financial ruin it most likely has to do with mismanagement of their resources money etc.

[MasterCornholio]

I'm happy that Nier Automata saved the developers. I really like their games and hopefully we will get something like Vanquish in the future which is my favorite game from them.

[DarXyde]

NieR Automata is such a beautiful game. It really deserves all the success it can get. Soundtrack, gameplay, and tone are exceptional.

If Platinum has to release remasters until they're cush, I'd support them.

They're really a standout studio and I would hate to see them....Vanquish[ed].

[Kavorklestein]

I Loved Vanquish as well. I plyed the demo back in the day, and was like YUP! Bought it the same day haha

[MasterCornholio]

@Dar and Kavork

I really miss games like Vanquish. Nier and Bayonetta are great but they can't replace Vanquish. I really hope platinum makes something similar to that in the future.

[maybelovehate]

It's an opinion piece for the article. Nothing in that quote is actual factual information. It is simply trolling fodder. Congrats for falling for it.

[Nyxus]

I think it's 100% correct.

[trooper_]

Because the truth hurts?

[Cheesetoenails]

Wow...that is really really stretching it there Nyxus, disagreed with you because you tried to pass an opinion off as fact and make it seem like MS was the cause....thats just blatant.. Please point out where Platinum mentions Scalebound and MS.

[showtimefolks]

It's not a fact yet well known since we have few journalists who will dig deep to find out what happened

[Nyxus]

Are you aware that I was quoting the article? They aren't my words, but I do agree with them.

[AKS]

So could I pass off buying both the Pro version w/ DLC and the PC version of Nier: Automata off as not being a Platinum fanatic but instead trying to save the company? It was just to keep them going through rough times.

[scofios]

Note to Platinum Games and other developers don't work with the Devil M$ you will always end burned.

[nommers]

Lo and behold we see another reason why Japanese companies shouldn't go with MS. Scaledbound wasn't just cancelled, it was a decision from MS that damned near killed another great developer.

[Davidgr2]

Everything that Microshaft touches turns into crap. *cough* Rare

[Nodoze]

Why not simply allow for Sony to pickup the title and fund it. Sony 'get's it'. Microsoft does not. Allow them to own the IP, and allow Sony to publish. Win win.

[Razzer]

Because MS owns Scalebound. Not Platinum.

[FallenAngel1984]

NieR: Automata really saved Platinum

I still see them working with other publishers from time to time in the future. Level 5 for example became a publisher themselves yet still made Ni no Kuni for Bandai Namco

[kevnb]

I think this is just because level 5 needs help outside japan, they published ni no kuni themselves in japan.

[MorpheusX]

@FallenAngel1984

I think Platinum should "steer clear" of Big Publishers ie: Microsoft, EA, Activision.

But perhaps may find a situation where they work with a smaller developer on a game as u stated.

[Concertoine]

They've made no statements about moving towards self-publishing their games. And really, Scalebound is the only time that really backfired. They just announced Bayo 3 with Nintendo.

They've made 3 or so games with Activision, and although the quality of them was not up to par, i think the funds from those games were important for the company. Similar to how Grasshoper Manufacture releases crappy licensed games so they can dedicate more resources to Suda51 games.

[Teflon02]

Level-5 in Japan publishes titles themselves. They don't publish games outside Japan, so that's why you'll see Namco on Ni no Kuni games. They only published outside Japan.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Btw My thoughts/ opinion thanks for Microsoft for this, but Nier saved them ;)

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Funny because most of N4g was sayin how bad the game looked and how awful it was etc. Now its suddenly all of MS fault. So its MS fault the game looked "bad"?

Keep spreading the BS N4G.

[parris]

I liked it, as did a lot of people.

The flip side is all the people who were calling it Microsoft's big Japanese game and talking about it when they were making lists of Xbox's upcoming games who when it got canceled all of a sudden started saying it sucked.

[trooper_]

Funny how you're shifting the blame when you guys said the game looked like crap and Microsoft was right to cancel it.

Again, do you want games or what? Why are we giving free passes to Microsoft for canceling games that otherwise would have promoted diversity?

[Cheesetoenails]

I remember that well, when they debuted the trailer many were complaining about the dub step and crappy graphics, though, myself. thought it looked pretty damn amazing. But the matter was, they didn't do their jobs and that's fact, so they pulled the plug. Thats business.

[GUTZnPAPERCUTZ]

That is N4G for ya, been this way since 2013 sadly. Will always be Pro-Sony/Anti-MS

[notachance]

https://kotaku.com/how-a-sm...

but hey, let's one-sidedly blame Platinum

[Rimeskeem]

Not those people's fault MS cancelled it. If Sony can publish Knack 2 why can't MS public Scalebound?

[Teflon02]

I liked what it looked like at reveal. What it looked like just before cancellation was horrible imo

[isarai]

They will, but i'm sure they'll be more cautious from now on and probably only stick with Japanese publishers. I mean there's already talks of another NIER project, no way they'd say no to that

[Smokehouse]

That’s great. It’s like Mayweather owning his own promotion company. Why pay people to pay you?

[SuperSaiyanGod41]

Sony should aquire PG. Imagine PG given the freedom and time Sony gives it's developers. I can see them creating an amazing jrpg or rpg with great combat and amazing story.

[Smokehouse]

I can understand your view about ownership being a safety net for freedom and time and it is when you look at their last string of games but studios close at Sony too. PG gave a fair shake with Microsoft using the same philosophy and it was a dud. They went to the brink, did Nier and now they have a little cushion to get comfortable again. It’s a rollercoaster for sure but that’s the cost of true freedom. The responsibility of their failures is entirely on them.

Your wins can cover your losses, that’s what business is all about and stupid ownership can often lead to premature decisions. Like visceral for example, there is absolutely no excuse for why that studio was closed, not one. The big pubs generally don’t gamble on creativity while these smaller companies are hungry and have passion projects. Biomutant is an example for me, I’m hyped to see more and it shows what’s possible with 20 people working for free, essentially “gambling” on their product.

Indie AA (like platinum) has the most potential to succeed imo. They can fail much harder like platinum did and still return from the grave. Self publishing is easy now, that axiom verge game was built by one dude on his free time. I don’t know how well it did or how good it is but it’s 90 some-odd percent profit. Sony has killed the International publishing, it’s no contest on that front. Sony has been awesome with supplementing smaller devs like PG, so really it’s “why fix what isn’t broke” to me.

Unless platinum was about to go under then I don’t think Sony should step in. Let them enjoy their options and independence. If you really like Sony go 2nd party like Kojima appears to be doing. Why give up your independence when it’s working? He ran away from that model and so did the veterans like him in the AA indie space. Kojima is probably AAA indie like CDPR but it’s the same concept, it’s just a bigger risk that needs bigger money.

[kevnb]

Ive heard many horror stories about publishers basically ruining games that would have been great.

[darthv72]

or dragging their feet with one publisher just to get out of things so they can go work with another publisher.

[rainslacker]

Platinum has a long history of working on multiple projects at a time. 2 to 3 at a time is not atypical for them.

It's pure speculation they diverted resources, and if they actually had, ms would have sued them, not just cancelled the game. Kinda like what happened with that aliens game by the studio I c nt recall.

Stop this nonsense that they diverted resources. The two games had different teams, different directors, and different producers. There was no unethical action involved.

Either p* couldn't make what ms wanted, or ms just pulled the plug. Those are really the only two reasonable conclusions.

[Segata]

Activision made them make TMNT is less than 1 year. Korra I think had a 6 month dev period. Then MS happened. I don't think they will work with western companies and stick with Japanese devs like Nintendo, Square and others. I can even see them partnering up with Capcom as I believe they expressed interest.

[kevnb]

Capcom and square are known to be quite shitty with external studios at times. I don’t really think it matters where the publisher is from, some are just much easier to work with.

[gangsta_red]

But let's not forget that Starfox didn't do well, Anarchy Reigns wasn't a hit. I'm not sure about Transformers but that was a budget title. As excellent as Vanquish was I don't think that did a ton of sales either.

Platinum have made fantastic games but they always receive a cult like status and nothing that sets the charts a blaze.

Even Bayonetta when first released failed at retail.

It was definitely a steady amount of losses before the success of Neir.

[darthv72]

Maybe that is what is taking Deep Down so damn long. Capcom just had to wait for PG to become available.

[Platformgamer]

not with microsoft, that's sure

[AKS]

I wonder what goes on at Microsoft that leads to such disasters with smaller developers. Lionhead and Rare have obviously had a heck of a time since getting mixed up with them. Lionhead is history, and Rare has been struggling badly. They almost put Platinum out of business, too. Maybe that's why MS has a dearth of exclusive titles. Smaller developers are terrified they will have their game canned and go out of business.

[Segata]

Yes they will. They have a good relationship with Nintendo. Nier sold very well. They will make some of their own games sure but won't be higher budget but portable stuff. Switch gives them great opportunity to get both in one. I don't doubt Square is considering Nier 3. Granblue will release at some point and hopefully west as well. I just think they will have reservations about working with MS ever again as the entire cycle they were treated badly.

[kevnb]

I hope square smartens up and let’s them support games post launch...

[TheColbertinator]

Scalebound would have been awesome. Microsoft blew it.

[Kavorklestein]

Platinum Dragged on development, and didn't satisfy MS's expectations.
Whahhhh.. Platinums fault.

MS sure lost out on having a good new IP, (they need all the IP's they can get) but the actual reason for failure here is that this was not satisfactory to the Client/Publisher, and it is completely Platinum's fault.

My Opinon: They May have been taking money and not really doing serious work, and instead developing OTHER projects, (like possibly Nier was partially funded with dollars MS gave for Scalebound???)

If you all don't like my Little Conspiracy Theory, then Look at Nyxus's Comment and tell me it's not laced with Opinions and Conspiracy.

#NotAfraidOfOpinions

[Nyxus]

Microsoft has a track record though, read up on how they treated the Phantom Dust remake team for example. So it's not that far fetched a theory.

[MorpheusX]

@kavorklestein

I agree w/you to a degree.

But....as @Nyxus stated.

Microsoft has a "Track Record".

IE: Bungie

[darthv72]

@morph... bungie didnt want to keep making halo games so they worked a deal with MS to get their freedom only to do what..... make halo-esq games for Activision. Talk about out of one fire and into another.

If the "track record" were so bad then MS could have easily said no or closed Bungie and kept the name to themselves. But instead they let them go. So i don't see where your example fits the narrative.

[Kavorklestein]

@ Nyxus...
Okay a track record is one thing.
You twisting words to sound like it's a quote is another.

The only thing that makes me upset is I don't get to play scalebound cuz it actually looked pretty interesting... other than that, I'm going to believe that Microsoft had valid reasons to cancel scalebound all together in light of the clear evidence that nier automata was completed and released... And scalebound instead was cancelled... I don't think any company wants to shut down a project and basically take a guaranteed loss on what they had invested thus far, for no reason at all..

That is exactly why I blame Platinum for not showing Microsoft their best effort with their money.

[rdgneoz3]

Sony funded nier and ms scalebound. Sony didn't force things on them and plat made an awesome single player game. MS wanted multiplayer with huge dragons, which ms didn't want to wait patiently for.

[Nyxus]

@ Kavorklestein: 'twisting words'? I copied that quote directly from the article, I didn't twist anything.

"That is exactly why I blame Platinum for not showing Microsoft their best effort with their money."

And where is your proof of that then?

[Kavorklestein]

That article is an Opinion article, and the Author is saying "he" thinks this, or "he" thinks that.
You taking that excerpt out of context, without the clear OPINION article context, made it almost seem like it was a quote from Platinum about their dealings with Microsoft.

But, Platinum never said a word about MS, and people are just making their own conclusions.

Just like I am being free to speak with my own Conclusion.

*opinion/conspiracy theory disclaimer*
I kinda think Platinum used some of Ms's Money, (a Western Company) and used parts of that money to not only stay afloat financially etc..but perhaps to staff people to work on Sony's- (an Eastern Company) game.

At the Very least, one truth is common knowledge, and that is that Platinum did not meet deadlines, quality expectations, or present substantially promising Material on par with Microsoft's expectations.... all the while getting paid.

*Opinion disclaimer starts here again...* TBH, I'd imagine MS being EAGER/DESPERATE to bolster a Eastern Partnership and IP, had ALREADY thrown insane amounts of money at Platinum just to get the opportunity to have Platinum make Scalebound (Once again, this is just my fun/stupid Conspiracy theory)

Anyways, people are always picking and choosing what they want to see/hear/believe and this is becoming a back and forth tit for tat BS war, instead of you actually acknowledging that you knew EXACTLY what I meant with my statements all along.
I mean, you Clearly Comprehended that Opinion Piece (that was poorly formatted for an article) like it was no problem, right?

Gotta play stupid and split hairs when anything does fit your narrative/opinion... The typical Sony way.

Besides, My proof is: The damn game got cancelled, you bozo! CLEARLY something was wrong...
Doy! Duh! Derp! No further thought is really needed to determine the game must have been sub par... otherwise why would MS literally throw away ALL resources sunk into a game that never came out? Just for Fun? Just to piss people off?
Not likely in the slightest.

[Razzer]

"No further thought is really needed to determine the game must have been sub par... otherwise why would MS literally throw away ALL resources sunk into a game that never came out? Just for Fun? Just to piss people off?
Not likely in the slightest. "

lol....tell that to Obsidian and Darkside.

https://www.eurogamer.net/a...
https://kotaku.com/how-a-sm...

[Razzer]

.

[ZombieKiller]

Capcom should hire them to help continue the Devil May Cry series.

[kevnb]

No, Capcom would have them make something much worse than bayonetta.

[AKS]

Capcom canned Clover, which preceded independently founded Platinum Games from the personnel of Clover. I doubt they're eager to get involved with them.

[ZombieKiller]

Although I agree with you, it still would be amazing to dream considering the outcome of what would be. Seriously, could you imagine?

Im a huge fan of the series so I'd love to see it.

[Segata]

Kamiya proudly showed himself playing Okami HD on Switch and believe he has expressed interest to work on a game with them.

[Mylove1516]

Id like to see an Onimusha from them.

[ZombieKiller]

That would be amazing! I need a new Onimusha title in my life. I kept my 60GB PS3 and still have the original trilogy. I know what I am doing after work tonight now, thank you!

[gamer7804]

For the most part i love platinum games but i dont really trust what the heads of development say, they are very volatile and harsh at times.

[LordoftheCritics]

MS looked at their large library of exclusives and decided to cancel scalebound.

/jk

[Segata]

Can't blame them when Netflix and dust is their biggest seller.

[masterfox]

I hope they never focus in just mobile like lots of developers are currently aiming at like Nintendo, thinking just in making a good game without the external factors is not equivalent of success, the fanbase, the console is as important, MS fanbase I'm sorry but most of them only care for multiplayer simplistic games and this gaming industry main pillars isn't build by simplistic games, there is a reason why the PS3 surpass the 360 even that PS3 was released a year later and even more expensive, and that is because single player experiences , the Playstation fanbase are the ones who built this gaming industry to be as big as it is now, it wasn't by Nintendo, it wasn't Sega, it wasn't MS, it was the Sony Playstation all by itself by giving developers the freedom they need it.

Nintendo's should it be the ones we should thank this gaming industry but because of their close mindset their decadence started since N64 and so Playstation took this gaming industry by it shoulders and continue to evolve our gaming experiences by releasing unforgettable story driven games, Platinum games learn the hard way partnering with MS one of the most greedy companies out there, but look at it now , they release one game called Nier Automata in the right console to the right fanbase and well see the results, Platinum games are saved now.

[michellelynn0976]

MS messed up bad cancelling Scalebound.

[jznrpg]

Just stay away from MS , they will want MP if it makes sense or not , plus they haven’t had much luck this gen making anything very good . If Scalebound was a single player game it could have succeeded

[nommers]

Really hope this doesn't mean no more Nier games with Platinum and SE. Their combination was just perfect for this game.

[Einhander1971]

Platinum are great developers hopefully we will see another Vanquish, certainly one of the best games last gen I love it.

[TheOttomatic91]

I hope the my can gain the same amount of financial success as Ninja Theory

[Broomfondle]

Xbox is herpes.

[Jrios355]

Platinum should try working with Sony. I don't know if Sony had any involvement during the development of Nier: Automata (Since the game was published by Square Enix), but Sony is known and praised for giving developers time and creative freedom. Platinum has already worked with 2 of the 3 giants (Not so well with Microsoft, though), so I feel like they would do great working with Sony.

[Segata]

I just have to ask If you were in charge over at sony what incentive would you have to make an exclusive deal with them? If it's not exclusive to Nintendo then PS4 gets their games anyway.

[Jrios355]

If I were in charge of Sony? Well, I'd look at the success of Nier: Automata on PS4, and ask Platinum for a deal to make a PS4 exclusive title. Also, to show them that they can have the creative freedom that they want without the fear of time constraints (Activision) or cancellations due to creative differences (Microsoft).

Yes it all depends if Platinum wants to make the deal or not, but I'm just suggesting Platinum going to Sony since, like I said, Sony has a track record of giving developers freedom, and time.

[DeadManMMX]

All I remember about this was that they managed to put out multiple licensed games and Nier Automata and yet They weren’t delivering on Scalebound. For the game to be fully canceled after all that promotion common sense would say it must’ve been in bad shape.

[Segata]

No. MS were bad to work with. Ask the Phantom Dust team. MS was forcing a multiplayer game into a single player game not built for it. MS wants more than a budget allows.

[DeadManMMX]

That’s your opinion based off an entirely different game and situation. They were not delivering on their end because they were spread too thin. They made a Star Fox Zero, Mutants in Manhattan, An Abatar game and Nier: Automata at the same time they were making Scalebound. All of this with a studio with only 200 employees. They bit of more then they could chew and from all accounts the game was looking rough. They didn’t just cancel the game just to cancel it and absorb all that bad press. They canceled that game because they thought it wasn’t coming along fast enough (3 years since announcement). Gotta hit those milestones.

[Pyrofire95]

Why Platinum Game will work with a publisher again. Nier Automata. Sighting the game as potentially saving the company from slowly dying.

[Bismarn]

Everyone here beefin on MS for cancelling Scalebound, but have you all forgotten that the main character has Beats by Dre headphones on? Microsoft saved us from ourselves.

[Tobse]

They thought they could spend the money from a already paid project for multiple games and just request more. That didnt work out, you cant Trick such a big Company.

[xX1NORM1Xx]

is it because publishers are awful money hungry monsters that will do everything in their power to sand down your creativity until it is completely generic in every way as to appeal to everyone at the same time?

[antikbaka]

meh... Platinum is a hired company 99% of times. They can't afford to be independent, one game is just one game

[Teflon02]

Platinum is a great studio for gameplay, but suck at optimization alot of times. Nier was great but those random stutters and so on were ridiculous. Especially since it was never a at a bad time. It only really happened while. Running through the world lol.
That being said, I've always said this about platinum. They always think a publisher should do more than what's required. Also feel entitled, then blames the publishers for everything they don't get right lol. Yes, it can be, but you're still the developer, and they never take responsibility nor want to do anything that involves being a good dev. Dev's all over pay for patches etc. Themselves, while these guys believe they shouldn't have to pay to fix a games issues that they released it with.
I love the games, but they're like entitled kids who are amazing prodigies

[RiverCityBoy]

Self publishing will take more money riight? I truly hope they can beef up and becomea much bigger company in the future. Its fuckin stupid that theyre not big enough already

[Crossbow1]

What they mean is they wont work with microsoft again to release an exclusive game. Platinum games have a good track record when releasing games but they just so happen to cancel a game with Microsoft because microsoft had to interfere.

[Elda]

Life & business lessons should always be learned may they be good or bad,glad Platinum games will keep on pressing on.

[P_Bomb]

Sounds similar to Techland and IOI deciding to go into business for themselves. Owning their own IP and destinies should put an end to unexpected cancellations and release date deadlines.