Phantom Dust is 'Going Well' Says Microsoft

By Jasmine Henry 13 January 2017

• pc
• xbox one
• microsoft
• phantom dust

Microsoft general manager Shannon Loftis confirms that development of Phantom Dust is ‘going well’ and that the company wants to make sure that the game is ‘great.’

Card-based action JRPG Phantom Dust has had a rocky few years. While many were glad when Microsoft took to E3 2014 to reveal that it would be rebooted, Microsoft then closed the developer behind the reboot and killed off the game as a result of budget problems combined with concerns about the development timeframe. Although Microsoft used E3 2016 to reannounce the Phantom Dust remaster, much to the delight of fans, people were still wary.

These doubts have been further exacerbated by Microsoft’s decision to cancel Scalebound, a high profile action RPG that was in development for PC and Xbox One. However, the company has reassured Phantom Dust fans that there isn’t anything to be worried about, with Microsoft general manager Shannon Loftis telling a fan on Twitter that the game’s development is “going well.” Asked why the game is taking so long, Loftis explains that “It’s decent work to bring an original Xbox game forward, and we want to make sure it’s great.”

Given how poor Xbox One sales in Japan are, Microsoft desperately needs a JRPG like Phantom Dust to turn things around in the region. The loss of Scalebound – which was being made by PlatinumGames, a Japanese developer – was a heavy blow but the planned release of Phantom Dust does inspire a lot of hope.

@MikeMayoral @XboxP3 @Bgamer90 Sorry, butting in here. Phantom Dust is going well.

— Shannon Loftis (@shannonloftis) January 11, 2017

@TeamVernia @MikeMayoral @XboxP3 @Bgamer90 It's decent work to bring an original Xbox game forward, and we want to make sure it's great.— Shannon Loftis (@shannonloftis) January 11, 2017

It should also be noted that Phantom Dust isn’t the only game that fans have been fretting about following Scalebound‘s cancellation, though, with gamers asking about pretty much every other game that Microsoft has announced. Crackdown 3 is safe (despite a ‘rough’ development) according to an industry insider, while the recent confirmation of Halo Wars 2 beta details and the reveal of a new game mode mean that the RTS is unlikely to get the chopping block either. Meanwhile, pirate multiplayer game Sea of Thieves has gotten a recent development update too.

Even with these confirmations, there are no doubt many fans who want to see more from all of the upcoming games. Fans also want to see the Project Scorpio Xbox One console too, with many first-party Microsoft games set to make use of the console’s 4K resolution-supporting hardware. Unfortunately, Xbox boss Phil Spencer says that he is unsure that Microsoft will show off Project Scorpio before E3 2017. Gamers may have a little while to wait until they see these games in 4K, then, but hopefully it will be worth it.

The Phantom Dust remaster will be released in 2017 on PC and Xbox One.