Earlier in the year, we reported on the Video Standards Council Rating Board's decision to refuse Omega Labyrinth Z classification in the UK and other PAL regions. This was largely due to the game's depiction of underage girls, which was deemed sexual. Publisher PQube was quick to acknowledge the decision, and nothing more was said.
Until today, that is. In what is a fatal blow to the game's chances of launching here in the West, PQube has released a statement that says Sony has requested the cancellation of the title's localisation efforts. "PQube must respectfully comply with the wishes of the platform holder and have therefore withdrawn any future plans for Omega Labyrinth Z's European and North American release," the statement reads.
"It is with sadness that we announce that the game is cancelled on both platforms and all Western regions permanently. We will not comment further on this matter. Thank you for your support," the publisher wrote on Twitter.
With organisations like the Video Standards Council Rating Board straight up refusing to rate the game, Sony's eventual involvement seemed an inevitability. But what do you make of this? Keep things clean in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments (37)
It's just like the bible says - don't make paedo games and it'll all be alright.
I think that's one of the ten commandments.
The game would have been acceptable if it released on Steam...right after of course it gets removed by Valve due to its excessive nudity.
wasn't looking forward to it but c'mon, they're cartoon girls. what's the big deal
Reminder to be careful with your comments on this particular story.
@ShogunRok I look at that gif and just image some Escher style stairs, so from their view they just keep going up and up...
So do PQube get any of their money back oooor?
@SlimDrizzyLamar spooning leads to forking...
Don't they usually change the ages for Western releases? Like instead of someone being 17, they're bumped up to 18?
In Japan, video games are predominantly bought and played by teens, not adults. So having sexy teens in a game is not a "paedo thing" over there, as their purpose is to appeal to Japanese teenage boys.
In the West, games are predominantly bought and played by adults, so it becomes a "paedo thing" in a way… if you have that persuasion.
@Bonbonetti That's sort of sidestepping Japan's general problem with schoolgirl imagery.
@Shepherd_Tallon I think they probably have. Done the research I mean. There of plenty of people who fetishise this sort of stuff.
If released, it would no-doubt sell.
@KALofKRYPTON That's true of the West as well, just look at Britney Spears when she started out, to use one of many examples. The schoolgirl (=teenage girl) fetish is as much a Western "habit" as it is a Japanese one.
The ever-present schoolgirls in Japanese games can, to a large extent, be explained by who their target audience is; teenage boys. Girls wear uniform in Japan, so if you make a game with teenagers, for teenagers, the developers probably think there's not much option. Of-course, teenage boys in Japanese games also tend to wear uniform.
I'm not saying there's no schoolgirl fetish in Japan, there is, but that's just one aspect of it; I don't think it's just about pleasing perverted 40 year-old men.
It's a general mystery to me how this gets a red light (no puns intended) on platforms full of stuff like this - these efforts are only a bunch of Senran Kaguras, Valkyrie Drives and Gal Guns too late, and I'm not sure how many of the aforesaid games' casts are eighteen or older themselves. What measure is "non-pedo" to VSCRB? And to their cross-Atlantic colleagues, seeing as Sony pulled the game in both regions? Not that we'll ever know for sure, I suspect - it was only easy to answer when no such games could be expected to hit the west. XD
That's too bad. I wasn't really planning on picking this up, but I do, in general, love PQube's commitment to localizing ecchi games with as little censorship as possible.
That does explain why they were being so dodgy about talking about the game lately.
Well, it's not like the PS4 is region-locked.
Not serious and very sarcastic comment below. Do not take seriously
Funny. I remember this site reporting that PS4 users were gamings biggest w***ers.
@smelly_jr they do although it’s usually around 15 bumped to 17 or 18.
@Tsurii hmm i dont know. If the press got wind this was releasing on a sony platform right now, i think their image would take a greater beating. They dont need it.
Just look up the lewd stuff on youtube and don't pretend to be upset.
@Tsurii
This will be a total non-issue, I think, except maybe among a very small niche. This isn't at all like the garbage going on with Fortnite (and for the record the cross-play issue doesn't bother me it's the account locking that is stupid).
The thing I note with almost every game with this kind of content is that they are usually garbage and it's only the controversy that raises the profile of a given title.
On a side note, I saw the Catherine: Full Body trailer earlier and simply cannot wait to play it, such a shame it's 2019.
@SoulsBourne128 you're late to the party, they changed their policy on that. Now it's basically a free for all.
Personally I'm of the opinion that if the ESRB was okay with it, Sony had no reason to get involved with this.
Banning things only makes people want it more, or is that the point?
That's a shame, ESRB rating was M, UK and Australia had the problem...
Can't help but wonder if this is setting some sort of precedent. Anime games with fanservice and school girls, Senran Kagura and Gal Gun for instance plus a bunch on the Vita.
That's why the Japanese footy team are doing so well in the World Cup. They put scantily clad schoolgirls behind the opposition's net so they all bomb forward.
@johncalmc It's disappointing your comment has so many likes, it's pretty disrespectful.
@doctommaso To who Peadofiles?
@Hapuc Disrespectful to people who honor the Ten Commandments.
@doctommaso Lol, social justice warrior in here.
I likely wouldn’t have played this, but I find people celebrating or justifying having one more game available to be quite frustrating.
@doctommaso Ahh well the only Ten Commandments I know is From Seven Deadly Sins anime if that counts
@doctommaso If it's any consolation I just liked it myself. Gotta pump those numbers up.
It's cultural difference things. Let's just leave it at that.
Westerner also always mock Japan for their R18 classification on Blood & Gore while it's all good for kids in the West.
@Hapuc Did you see the seven deadly sins anime there is some weird maybe even questionable sexual stuff but those fighting scenes. 😁
@whywai88 If you look at it its both weird. But some of these anime gory movies make my skin crawl. But i feel the same with Saw so thats nothing new.
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