Japanese publishers are not afraid of difficulties and are always more open.
Former PlatinumGames head Hideki Kamiya, who worked on Bayonetta and Devil May Cry, believes that the development of the canceled Scalebound for Xbox could have gone differently if the studio had collaborated with a Japanese publisher. Kamiya-san said this in an interview with VGC.
Kamiya, who is now working on the sequel to Okami at his new studio Clovers Inc, explained that Japanese publishers such as Sega, Capcom, Nintendo, Konami and Koei Tecmo are more open to new game ideas. At the same time, Western companies, in his opinion, prefer proven concepts that have already proven successful.
Japanese publishers understand the difficulties of creating something new and patiently watch the process. Western companies, if the idea has not yet taken clear shape, often require a more finished product to be shown.
When asked if the fate of Scalebound would have changed if he had worked with a publisher from Japan, Kamiya replied that Japanese companies are more open to experimentation and could provide more freedom to implement new ideas.
I think everything would be different. It is not necessary that the game would be completed and released, but the development process would definitely proceed differently.
Microsoft canceled the development of Scalebound in 2017, explaining its decision with some "business reasons."
