Update: Microsoft has issued a statement confirming that Scalebound has been cancelled. "After careful deliberation, Microsoft Studios has come to the decision to end production for Scalebound," a Microsoft spokesperson said. "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."
Original story:
Scalebound, the Platinum Games action-adventure about a boy and his dragon that was confirmed for a Windows 10 release last summer, has reportedly been canceled. Rumors of the cancellation first surfaced on Kotaku, which reported sources saying that the plug had been pulled following a lengthy stretch in "development hell." More recently (as in a few minutes ago), Eurogamer said that its own sources have reported the same thing.
The relationship between Hideki Kamiya's studio and publisher Microsoft has "dramatically soured" since the game was shown at Gamescom 2016 in August, according to the Eurogamer report. Several senior members of the development team took a month-long break from the project over the fall, but that left development even further behind schedule. That compounded existing technical and timing issues, which ultimately led to the decision to shut it down completely.
Scalebound remains listed on the Xbox Store, and the official website is live as well. The Scalebound Facebook page appears to be gone, however. I've reached out to Microsoft and Platinum Games for more information, and will update if and when I receive a reply; Microsoft told Kotaku that it would "have more to share on 'Scalebound' soon."
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