Shin Megami Tensei IV’s European release is delayed once again, confirms AtlusUSA PR Manager John L Hardin via a TwitLonger post. The contents of the post are below:
After some unscheduled changes to the SMTIV mobile website raised some eyebrows, a lot of you asked for more details, so I’ll be upfront. We encountered a few last-minute issues specific to the EU version, and we have to fix them. Given the current timelines for production, it looks like SMTIV won’t be out in EU until late October.
No one likes delays. Our fans in Europe have been waiting for SMTIV for a *very* long time, and it pains us to have to move the release date back even further. I have talked to a few of you on Twitter, I’ve seen the angry posts on Reddit, NeoGAF, Facebook, etc., and wanted to be as direct as I could. We truly feel awful having to say “wait a little longer” for a game you’ve been so zealously patient for, but there is no other recourse. We’re doing everything we can to get the game out in Europe as fast as we can, so please bear with us.
Shin Megami Tensei IV is receiving an English-only digital release in Europe, and the game was released in July 2013 for North America. Personally, I feel it has to be appreciated that a representative of the company is reaching out and notifying fans of the situation with the game’s delayed release, but at the same time the large difference in release dates and the unknown reason for the delays are puzzling. The circumstances are so abnormal and stressing for fans that it perhaps merits some clarification. A release such as this could lend itself to reinforcing the trend of poor commercial reception for Atlus titles in Europe, and thus limited Atlus presence.
Perhaps it would be preferable if Sega could take on a more active role in the future…