Scalebound was an action role-playing game played in a third-person perspective, in which players assumed control of Drew, as he progressed through the world of Draconis.

[2] Thuban is usually controlled by artificial intelligence, but players can give commands to the dragon when performing attacks.

The three types can be blended together through the game's customization options and the dragon's abilities, appearances and armor can be modified by the player.

[7] The dragon can be ridden, though not in the beginning of the game, and they can perform a special elemental attack with the berserker mode.

[2] Players can gain skill points, which can be used to level-up Drew, by defeating enemies and taking care of Thuban like healing and assisting him in battle.

The concept for the game was created when Platinum established in 2006 but the studio decided to move to develop Bayonetta instead of making Scalebound.

[1] Platinum also consulted Microsoft's user research labs to ensure that the game would suit the taste of a broad audience.

In order to tackle the problem of having two lead characters in a game, they focused the story on Drew and the gameplay on Thuban.

[22][23] Kamiya cited the 1987 Dragon Slayer action role-playing game Sorcerian as inspiration, including its fantasy theme, "gigantic monsters," different scenarios, "expansive possibilities", "tons of adventures" and enemies such as a hydra boss and "lots of amazing dragons".

According to Yong-hee Cho, the game's art director, the Pulse took inspiration from the Force of Star Wars fame.

As a result, 80% of the game's world would be based on earth's landscape, while the remaining 20% would be environments shaped by the Pulse energy.

[32] Reflecting on the game's cancellation in May 2019, Platinum studio head Atsushi Inaba said it "wasn't easy" to see publisher Microsoft receive criticism for the decision as he felt "both sides failed", and that, ultimately, the game "didn't do all of the things that we needed to do as a developer".

[33] In February 2020, Inaba said that while Scalebound remains an intellectual property fully owned by Microsoft, PlatinumGames would want to return to it if given the opportunity to.

[34] In a video interview with Cutscenes, Kamiya apologized for the game's cancellation and stated the development team were not experienced enough in creating a title with an emphasis on online features.