'Scalebound' director hints at a return to stylish action games

By Steven Petite June 6, 2017

hideki kamiya teases next action game scalebound featured alt — Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s been five months since Microsoft canceled Scalebound, one of the most intriguing exclusives that was in development for Xbox One. While we don’t know for sure what’s next for Scalebound director Hideki Kamiya, in an interview with IGN, he promised that fans of his work will certainly recognize his next project at Platinum Games as a Kamiya work.

He claimed he has multiple working ideas, but that he wants to ensure that the final product “really waves the Kamiya banner proudly. A game where you will know instantly that it came from me.” This suggests that Kamiya will return to the type of game that cemented his place in the industry.

Given Kamiya’s storied history in the industry as an action game guru, it is reasonable to assume that the next Kamiya game will pull from the genre. For Platinum Games, Kamiya led development on three stylish action games prior to Scalebound — Bayonetta, The Wonderful 101, and Bayonetta 2. Since the title will be developed at Platinum Games, one would think that the presentation will hue close to those three titles.

Before co-founding Platinum Games, however, Kamiya led the now-defunct Clover Studio where he created numerous action titles with cell-shaded graphics, which could very well be seen by many as his most recognizable style. At Clover, he led development on three Viewtiful Joe titles, and the paintbrush-infused Okami, which is widely regarded as one of the best PlayStation 2-era games. Before that, Kamiya directed titles in both the Resident Evil and Devil May Cry franchises for Capcom.

Kamiya bounced his ideas off of co-workers at Platinum Games in a recent meeting. He said that the meeting was voluntary but that the room was packed, and turned into a productive brainstorming session.

While the cancellation of Scalebound is still disappointing for many, it is great to hear that Kamiya is moving full-speed ahead with a number of ideas. Hopefully, it will not be too long before we learn concrete details about his next adventure.

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Steven is a writer from Northeast Ohio currently based in Louisiana. He writes about video games and books, and consumes…

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