After a year-long delay, Microsoft has given up on Xbox One exclusive game 'Scalebound'

It's been two and a half years since the world first got a glimpse of Scalebound, a game filled with dragons and adventures, promising "epic battles on an unbelievable scale". After its announcement at E3 2014, its developer, Platinum Games, showed off an early gameplay demo at Gamescom 2015.

However, its development clearly didn't go entirely to plan. A year ago, in January 2016, Platinum revealed that the game had been delayed until 2017, "in order to deliver on our ambitious vision and ensure that Scalebound lives up to expectations". But even at E3 2016, Microsoft was touting Scalebound as part of its 2017 gaming line-up, even celebrating its support for the Xbox Play Anywhere program.

A firm release date was never announced - but after four years in development, it seems that its launch day may never come, as Microsoft Studios announced that it has dropped its support for the title, which was destined to be exclusive to the Xbox One and Windows 10.

In a statement, the company said today:

After careful deliberation, Microsoft Studios has come to the decision to end production for Scalebound. We're working hard to deliver an amazing lineup of games to our fans this year, including Halo Wars 2, Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, Sea of Thieves and other great experiences.

According to Eurogamer, citing unnamed sources, the working relationship between Microsoft Studios and Platinum Games "dramatically soured" in the latter half of 2016, amid growing problems with the game's engine, and the prospect of more missed deadlines in the development process. Work on the game reportedly came to a halt before the end of the year.

Until a few minutes before this article was published, Scalebound remained listed on Microsoft's Xbox.com site, promising that pre-orders would be available "soon". The game's page has since been removed, and the URL now redirects to the Xbox.com homepage.

It's not yet clear if Platinum Games intends to continue development of the game without Microsoft's support.

Source: Eurogamer