The dry summer gaming months are coming, and sadly one of July’s bright spots will likely be delayed on this side of the Pacific. Platinum Games announced on Friday via a post on its website that Anarchy Reigns, an online multiplayer brawling game, will not be released by Sega on July 3rd in the U.S. and Europe.
“[The] bad news about Anarchy Reigns US/EU release date—Sega has decided to change the date to TBC. While our work on the game is finished, localized, and ready to go, as publisher, Sega gets to make the final decision as to when it’s released. The Japanese release date, however, remains unchanged for July 5, 2012.”
In a video on the same page, Platinum insists that this does not mean Anarchy Reigns is cancelled. “[TBC] means ‘to be confirmed,’ not ‘to be cancelled.’ We worked really hard to make sure everybody could get the game on time. The game is fully localized. If you but the Japanese version or any version, it’s going to have all the languages in it. We really wanted everybody online around the world to play together at the same time, but unfortunately that’s not going to happen.”
Apparently the delay may not be that long though. “Sega is looking for the best time to put it out. It will still be out in July. There will still be ways for you to get it if you know where to go. We’re still 100 percent behind the game and we still want to connect with you and play with you and have a good time. So let’s make sure that happens no matter what bad news we get.”
Sega’s relationship with Platinum Games has become somewhat more strained recently if rumors are to be believed. After news came out that losses from last year were forcing Sega Sammy to restructure its business and cancel certain titles, reports claimed Platinum Games was forced to cancel Bayonetta 2. A sequel to its 2010 action game Bayonetta, the game was said to be entering the pre-production phase before it was cancelled.
Anarchy Reigns hasn’t received much promotion in the lead up to its release either. While demos of the game were shown off at E3 and Gamescom last summer, there’s been little in the way of preview events for the game since. Brawling games have only a niche following in the first place, and Sega has an uphill battle promoting this game to the large number of players that would need to support it.
Platinum is one of the best studios out there. Fingers crossed that its game makes it out soon.
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