Update: Play-Asia responded to our request for comment, and it shed some light on Omega Labyrinth Z's sales situation. We received no information that indicates that Play-Asia is actively returning pre-orders, but rather allowing players to cancel pre-orders at any time. The full comment made to TechRaptor is as follows:
Our decision to no longer take orders for these products is due to our inability to confirm stock from our distributors. We are not aware of the direct cause of this issue, and have no information regarding the official release. However, in an effort to avoid potentially inconveniencing our customers we have erred on the side of caution. [...] We are very much behind the release of the game and would love to confirm stock and resume sale.In reference to the regional release for North America, Play-Asia had this to say:
Play-Asia also had "no information" if Omega Labyrinth Z was going to be censored further for its English release.We do not have supply information regarding the North American release, which is not necessarily unusual for a title without a set release date. If we can confirm supply of the European release Play-Asia.com will have no issue re-opening orders for it. Customers that had previously cancelled their orders will be notified.
Our original story continues below.
The upcoming dungeon crawler Omega Labyrinth Z appears to have been pulled from PQube's website, with PQube unable to comment. This was first noticed and reported by Censored Gaming, who also reported that Play-Asia is returning pre-orders for Omega Labyrinth Z. Currently, Rice Digital's store also lacks a PS4 or a Vita version, which presumably also stems from a failure to confirm stock. PQube is entirely unable to comment on the status of Omega Labyrinth Z at this time, so we'll wait for more communication in the "upcoming weeks."
You may recall that Omega Labyrinth Z was recently refused classification in the UK. While PQube previously planned on making Omega Labyrinth Z available for importing for UK customers, it seems as though this is no longer possible. It was refused classification in Germany, as well as Australia, but PQube had indicated they were still willing to sell it to the rest of the EU. Indeed, the ESRB handed down a "Mature" rating for both the PS4 and the Vita versions. If you're familiar with the ESRB, then you should know that this is no surprise, as the ESRB has rated just 29 games as "Adults Only," and there appear to be no documented cases of ESRB refusing to rate something, as the process is voluntary. Many retailers refuse to stock physical games that do not have an ESRB rating regardless, though digital games are exempt from this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXhTbKTeTHk
This comes even after PEGI rated Omega Labyrinth Z for other European territories at an age of 18. PEGI is also not known for refusing classification of games, as that's left to the discretion of individual states under their banner. It's possible, with PQube headquartered in the UK, that Sony stepped in to relieve them of their license. This is not PQube's first run-in with classification refusals, as both Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkuni and Gal*Gun 2 were banned, albeit in Germany and Australia. Hopefully, we hear more from PQube regarding the status of Omega Labyrinth Z in the coming weeks, and if it'll end up for sale after all.
