From what I saw, it looked like things were going along fine. And it having issues doesn't mean it couldn't be saved. If it needed more time and work, then it could have gotten it and potentially be released. There have been cases where games took a very long time to release, but eventually did. I feel this game could have been the same, and seeing it got canceled instead seems kind of a shame.

I love to see speculation becoming facts in front of my eyes.

Some of you guys need to learn how game development works, and software in general. What is a "vertical slice" of a game, "all hands" meetings, SCRUM, Kanbam, etc...

An AAA game is a engineering project, it goes beyond artistic views.

Games got canceled all the time or they fade until everybody forgets it ever existed. It´s easy when you own the studio and can make stealth lay-offs and realocations.

Meh, I thought the entire game was shit from the beginning.

Re: multiplayer, seems strange issue to somehow be such a problem to implement.
From the very first previews, the game was do-able for at least 2-player multiplayer,
one person controlling the douche with headphones, the other controlling the dragon.
Even in previews there are combat scenes with multiple allied dragons fighting big bad together.
At most, I guess you could say bringing in more players broke the "spirit" of the game,
that the headphone guy is such a douche that nobody else will hang with him except the 1 dragon.

The idea the monsters couldn't handle multiple opponents is ridiculous, if anything just revealing
how crappy of a product is was from the beginning to be so narrowly scripted.
And for supposedly "open world" game, I never really saw deep and social world shown off.
Just "cruise around generic euro-fantasy nature world scattered with monsters and temples".
Neither was any compelling physics shown, which would be prime draw of dragon/human dichotomy.

Really, the subtext here is that if you can compare it to Horizon which has open world,
and TONS of robo-dinosaurs to ride/etc, multiple NPCs to ally with that the AI handles fine,
and superbly rich environment and background, and Platinum just can't measure up to that.
Tons of games have multiplayer that monster AI can handle just fine, so what is the problem here?

So how is this a shit game? How do you know it's a shit game? 

Wait...you havea  Recore Xbox Profile Pic? WTF? 

And my lone platinum you see on this account is from The Order :)

As bad as you might think Recore is, just remember, Scalebound was so much worse, MS didn't even want to finish it.

My point wasn't that you have bad taste. I haven't played Recore, or The Order, so I have no real opinion on them(though the gameplay I've seen is REALLY disappointing). More so, that to me those games looked mediocre when I saw them, we got almost no gameplay footage before they released(very little "proof of concept") and both games ended up getting mediocre reviews. How can you say Scalebound was a shitty game when so much of it is unproven, both negatively and positively? If you ended up enjoying those games, you CLEARLY are able to give things your own unique perspective...give them a chance. 

You can't just say "well Microsoft cancelled it so it MUST be shitty". More likely it was cancelled because Microsoft preffered a multiplayer focus that just wasn't compatible with weak Xbox hardware, not because of the game being bad, of poor quality, or hell even running bad. So how can you say it was "bad"? 

It seems your bias defines which narative you think is more plausible.

Lets see, Quantum Break and Recore dont have multiplayer or coop. Sunset overdrive MP is very sidelined.

Why would Microsoft force this onto this particular project?

Yes...my bias DOES define the narative. However, it does not define THE NARRATIVE. 

Anyways, it's just speculation...but I think it's a little likely. Platinum is known for caring a lot about performance, we've also heard of artistic differences. I honestly doubt the singleplayer component wouldn't be ready, sure the footage was a bit choppy, but that was outdated footage. OR, it's possible that the graphical fidelty *in general*, meaning not just in the multiplayer mode, could not be supported on the Xbox One. It's just a theory, not a "this is definitely what Microsoft is doing" narrative. But I think either way there's a lot we don't know about the product. I think you're assuming a little too much that Microsoft treats all projects the same.

Either way it's just speculation. It could be entirely platinums fault, it could be entirely Microsofts, most likely it is not that black and white. 

There are massive games running on Xbox and PS4 with preaty good IQ and performance.

With development starting in 2013 I dont think it's fair to blame a hardware that can deliver Battlefield and Battlefront.

Of couse Platinum was learning UE4 and there is no open world game with that engine so far.

Yeah good radiance to have less games on Xbox and PC. Its pretty sad about this generation that i never come to upgrading my PC at this point.