Microsoft is one of the most scrutinized companies on the planet.
If they make claims, people will look for ways to downplay it. And if they don't follow through on those claims, people will look to demonize them for it. Yes, they do also have their ardent fans. They are kind of like the Yankee's. A very successful company. A core group of diehard fans. But an organization that people love to hate.
Scalebound was a perfect example of this. Exclusive signing of a game featuring a Japanese developer. Immediate calls that the game didn't look good, looked boring, wasn't really a Japanese developed game, etc. Then when it got cancelled, people were crawling out of the woodwork to chime in about how they were looking forward to the game and how dare MS cancel such a promising game.
I'm not necessarily saying those 2 groups of people are connected. But if there really were that many people dying to get their hands on Scalebound and loving how it was looking up until it was going to be cancelled, it would have been nice if most of them had spoken up about it sometime after the game was released as usually happens when people are looking forward to a game.
The fallout from the cancellation was so much larger than any good publicity from signing and announcing the exclusive. Projects get cancelled all the time by all publishers (MS, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Square-Enix, Blizzard, Bethesda, all of them). Most of the time it goes barely noticed or doesn't cause much of a stir. Just some lingering disappointment most of the time. Just look at all the things Sony has shown at their E3 conferences that never made it. Capcom's Deep Down is still nowhere to be seen. You get the point. Games getting cancelled, meh, no big deal, IMO (unless it's something I love!).
The blowback from Scalebound really surprised me and likely surprised MS as well. They likely felt it wouldn't generate much press considering how much it was being consistently panned around the internet. The Fable game had some blowback as well, but not as much as Scalebound. So, they are keeping announcements of anything that isn't basically nailed down close to the chest and under wraps until they are close to shipping.
I can't say that I blame them. And personally, I'm all for it, if not for the same reasons as why they are doing it. I just don't care to know about something multiple years in advance. When I find out about something I want to know that I can buy it relatively soon.
I'm also glad there are 3rd party developers that feel the same way as I do. I love that fact that 4A games waited until Metro: Exodus was almost finished before announcing anything. THAT is how game reveals should be done, IMO.
Regards,
SB