Late last week, publishers XSEED and Marvelous announced that their 3D brawling game Uppers will be headed to Steam PC on 21 October. In addition to the standard edition priced at $29.99, there will also be a Digital Deluxe Edition that includes a digital art book and a 46-track soundtrack for $39.99.

Keen readers of The Splintering may recall that a PS4 version was also planned for Western release, and you would be correct. Uppers was originally released for the PS Vita in 2016 in Japan. Since that time, the existence of a Western PS4 release was leaked and later officially announced with a target release date of 2018.

So “wha happun?” According to Gematsu, XSEED has confirmed that both the North American and European releases of Uppers have been officially cancelled, stating that they are “no longer in development.”

While no explanation was given, Uppers’ cancelation is quite likely due to Sony moving the PlayStation headquarters to California in 2018 and the policies that came with it. Specifically, Sony has instituted new content review rules that effectively censor the games of its third party developers. The company has adopted a new internal regulatory board to scrutinize and approve games submitted for publishing on PlayStation platforms. It’s important to note that Sony’s new review board is completely separate from national rating boards which have already been in place for decades.

Sony’s new policy has not only resulted in several Japanese games being censored, but some releases have been canceled outright. Trickle-down effects have been a particular frustration for third-party developers, who still aren’t completely sure when their content will offend the Bay-Area moralists at Sony HQ. Given that Uppers has some sexy, risqué content, it looks like Marvelous and XSEED have turned to the PC as the only means of distributing the game to Western audiences.

So if you’re a Western gamer looking to get your beatdown on with a localized version of Uppers, Steam is your go-to destination for the moment. There is some good news, however, as both PC editions will be discounted 15 percent during launch week (again, starting on 21 October). You can visit the Uppers Steam page here.

Source: Gematsu

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