There’s a bit of unrest going around the Senran Kagura community concerning the latest Senran Kagura game and its potential localization, prompting publisher Marvelous Games to issue a statement about it on Twitter and set the record straight.
Here’s what it had to say:
“We wish to address recent news published in relation to a newly released title in Japan. Firstly, as with all our games, we will announce plans for the west when we have them ready to share. Nothing can be confirmed until we have a firm road-map in place. Secondly, Senran Kagura games have always launched in Japan first, and it takes time for further launch plans to be made for other territories. Once we are ready to talk about a new game, we will make a formal announcement as we always do.”
Though the statement doesn’t mention it by name, the game being referred to here is Shinobi Refle: Senran Kagura, which released for the Nintendo Switch in Japan last Friday, and the statement itself was prompted by the panic instilled within the community after some outlets ran stories stating Shinobi Refle was “likely not headed West” following a recent interview with producer Kenichiro Takaki.
It’s not hard to see why this news would rub some folks the wrong way.
Despite being niche (and even reviled by some), Senran Kagura has always managed to find its way in the West after it spends some time as Japan. However, Shinobi Refle is likely the most provocative game in the series — far more so than any of the main entries or any of the other spin-offs. In essence, it takes the core functions of the dressing room feature from other entries in the series and makes something reminiscent of a dating sim out of it.
With that in mind, it didn’t take long for many to accept such words as fact and rumors soon started to appear which suggested hat there was some internal dispute concerning Shinobi Refle or that Nintendo of America had somehow already flagged it.
However, in their rush to assume to worse, it seems many forgot that Senran Kagura has never had any plans for localization in other regions announced so quickly. In fact, most Japanese games are like that, so it seems odd that many assumed Shinobi Refle, of all games, would be any different.
That’s where statements like, “we will announce plans for the west when we have them ready to share” and “it takes time for further launch plans to be made for other territories” come in. As always, having no current plans to localize a game doesn’t automatically equate to the game not coming to the West at all. Fans will just have to be patient and see what happens.
And while a Western release would certainly be ideal, it’s not like the game isn’t available for that audience already. Due to Switch being region-free, all players have to do is make a JP account and buy the appropriate eShop card from sites like PlayAsia and you’re practically good to go…so long as the language barrier isn’t an issue.
Shinobi Refle: Senran Kagura is available now on the Japanese eShop.
