This is a sad day for anti-censorship people like me and the people who wanted to play the game. PQube has confirmed that the western release of Omega Labyrinth Z has been cancelled, and the game won't come out in America and Europe on both platforms, supposedly the game failed QA and it won't be released outside of Asia because Sony America and Europe will not allow the game to be released on their platforms, and if it's true, that's awful...how Sony can allow something like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Mortal Kombat, Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto, Senran Kagura, Danganronpa, etcetera etcetera, on their platforms but not Omega Labyrinth Z is something I can't understand...oh well, it's what it is...Sony, you suck.

Anyway, I just wanted to report that here on Vizzed for some reason, perhaps few people on Vizzed were interested in the game, but that doesn't mean that this shouldn't be mentioned, I hope that people do not forget about this, and if Sony America and Europe really have something to do with this, they deserve to be called out for it.

Official statement: https://twitter.com/PQubeGames/status/1011240217813057536

I'm not gonna lie here: if what that one person was saying is true, then I 100% support the censorship decision. "Content that sexualizes young girls" just isn't okay here. In Japan the culture is quite different, as is their perception of these sorts of things. In the U.S. (not sure about your country, if it isn't U.S.) underage nudity, even partial, is a huge no no, and given some of the unfortunate things I've seen in my life, I understand why. We're already fighting enough issues on sexual matters without bringing up the issue of allowing child pornography or even borderline content.

Now I obviously don't mean this as an insult to you, other fans, or even the developers, as I previously stated that culture and upbringing affect perception of these matters in a big way. Not everyone who wanted this game, or even the specific content that it was cancelled for, is some sort of sicko that fantasizes about children. Some are just understanding of the culture and can roll with it without demonizing something that seems too different (because anything we disagree with is wrong, isn't it?), but there are just too many good reasons not to allow it here.


If it's QA, then again, I support it. No need for garbage bin worthy games.

If it's purely based on indecent content as a whole, then, while I wouldn't play it myself, I don't support it being blocked. Unfortunately the developers and publishers (pretty much anyone that knows the full story) are bound to remain silent on the matter, so it isn't possible to say for sure what exactly went on, or why.

First of all, this has nothing to do with Sony America or Europe, it seemingly is a decision from PQube. We must not forget that PQube is UK-based, and so they fully know what can blend into western culture and what not, so if they chose to cancel it here they surely have their reasons.

In the case I'm wrong and this has something to do with Sony, then it makes no sense. They've released equally bad or even worse games on that aspect since time is time, not to mention DLC. Hell, they even released a game one year ago that revolves around girl-on-girl love with obviously-young-looking protagonists and nearly explicit scenes, and Omega Labyrinth Z wouldn't be much worse, if any worse at all.

If PQube has published other games with sexual content like Valkyrie Drive but is holding back this game, then it surely must have something over the edge for western cultures. Given the two screenshots attached to that tweet it's possible it had some "dark" plot ahead or at least serious connotations. The game has been out for a year in Japan, so whoever is interested in the real reason as to why it was cancelled then a google search could do the work.

On a more personal note, whatever the reason was, I'm glad the game won't be coming to Spain. We're currently dealing with massive issues regarding sexual assaults, and the last thing we want amidst this turmoil is something that can be seen as enticing. Maybe we're being overly picky before the bubble bursts, but still glad we didn't add more wood to a searing bonfire.

It's well known that I don't live in the United States (I'm mexican), and I can say for sure that we don't care about the content found in video games here, there is little coverage of video games here in Mexico, and like in other countries, I can confirm that children can access M rated games here easily. In the case of anime style games, almost nobody cares about those that are here, even so, I often buy anime style games. Obviously underage nudity here in Mexico, even partial, is a no no...as long as it's real nudity, fictional characters don't matter in the slightest. Omega Labyrinth Z is not ''child pornography'', I'm sure that many people know that, an anime style game for console would never, ever have explicit nudity, only PC games would contain such a thing.

Honestly, I find interesting that you said that underage partial nudity ''is a huge no no'', that contradicts the fact that there are many games that sexualize, at least a little, young girls, sometimes we know that the characters in a game are indeed under the age of 18 because the ages are explicitly mentioned, and I can name several examples, I'l be the first to admit that these are not the best examples, obviously some games have more fanservice than others but anyway, here I go: Deathsmiles (the youngest character, Casper, is 11), Conception II (Fuuko mentions that the Star Mark is received only by people between the ages of 16 and 18, and the characters in the game are described as ''teenagers''), the Xblaze games (Hinata Himezuru is 16, and Mei Amanohokosaka is 15), WarTech: Senko no Ronde (the game doesn't have nudity, but Lili Levinas is 16, and she is seen wearing outfits that reveal cleavage in some images, in one I swear you can kind of see her underwear)...even when we have games where the ages aren't explicitly mentioned, one can still be sure that the characters are under the age of 18 because it's implied or it's obvious (a high school setting), in Mary Skelter: Nightmares for example, Jack mentions that he isn't an adult yet, and it's mentioned that Thumbelina is the same age as him, additionally, in the game they refer to Rapunzel as ''a child'', she's also ''the youngest of the Blood Maidens'', in Blue Reflection ( I really can't stop talking about that game), we know that the characters are high school students, and I remember seeing an image where the age of the main character is mentioned (Hinako Shirai is 15), even so, the game has many shower scenes, and also a lot of suggestive dialogue, not to mention one or two scenes of a sexual nature (*cough* Shihori Sugamoto *cough*). In Hyperdimension Neptunia U, Ram (as White Sister) says that ''she's just a kid''...I can keep going but I won't. How can you say that content that sexualizes young girls isn't okay when we already have a lot of games that sexualize young girls? For me, this is just a case of inconsistency on Sony's part, recently they allowed Gal*Gun 2 on PS4, and the rating summary found on the ESRB website says that ''players assume the role of a high-school student as he attempts to fend off the advances of possessed female classmates'', you can't tell me that Omega Labyrinth Z is much worse than Gal*Gun 2, Senran Kagura: Estival Versus, Criminal Girls 1 and 2 (even censored, the games aren't tame), and others.

I get what you are saying, but I still think that the game shouldn't have been blocked, Sony really shouldn't have blocked this game because they have allowed similar games on their platforms before, even outside of Japan...even if you aren't an adult, I still think that everyone should be free to consume the entertainment they want, as long as they don't hurt others, even if many japanese games really sexualize underage characters (it's true), it doesn't matter because it's fiction and nobody is being hurt, if this involved real children, I would be 100% against this, but Omega Labyrinth Z is a video game, it's fiction, Sony shouldn't be deciding what people can't play, deciding what to play is the work of consumers, not Sony's. It's not like the game is targeted to people who don't know about japanese culture, I've been rambling a lot, but yeah, I'm mad because of the fact that the game won't be released outside of Asia, and for your information, I'm not interested in the game.

It seems I may have come across offensively with my wording, unless I'm wrong in taking your reply as an agitated one. If I did offend, then I apologize.


As for what you listed: first, you can literally be sent to prison for even viewing underage nudity here (Idk how that goes in Mexico), so it wouldn't be okay. It also isn't unthinkable for exceptionally underage anime nudity to be pulled for legal purposes here. The fact is, here if someone sees you with such content you're immediately viewed as a threat to children. And in the U.S. at least, real or animated makes little difference: the stigma is still there.

That said, there's a lot of context that we're not looking at. As Palen sort of alluded to, there have been games with similar content that have been published here, so the extent and nature of the content is a big factor to consider. What parts of the body are revealed, what happens in the story -- express or implied -- and how underage we're talking (14 vs 7 for example) is another key factor. I've seen shows with kids in their undergarments get a PG-13/TV-14 rating, so undergarment scenes aren't an issue. That isn't partial nudity, it's suggestive themes.

And even if it is legal, you have to consider that a company is no better than it's public image. If there is content that the publisher or platform holder feels would make them look bad for allowing in a given area, then they have the right (And need) to block it.

Finally, to say "it's been allowed before, so it should always be allowed" isn't really a good approach to take either. If something is allowed and it doesn't turn out well in the end, it's just good sense to not do it again, and it's the same with rule enforcement: sometimes you take a risk and sometimes things slip through. That doesn't mean it always should.
And again, what happens in the game is a key factor here. Speaking of someone in a sexual manner can be seen as sexualization, but so can showing them in sexual situations, and there's a big difference between the two.

All I mean to say here is that there is so much more to any situation, especially situations with NDAs, than what meets the eye. We don't know the full story, nor can we know. And it isn't a big deal either way, as it can still be imported legally, and fairly cheaply I'm sure.


Censorship is a slippery slope for sure, but it's also not the demonized thing it's portrayed as. If this game were, to put it vaguely, about hunting down and "harming" young girls, would we say it should be okay to release? I can't speak for everyone, but I believe the vast majority would agree that such a game should be blocked. So in some situations then, the right to censorship is important. So I don't mind content being blocked as the developer knows what will fly and what won't in a given country, or they should anyway.

You make some valid points. If what you said is true, then I agree with the people that have been saying that we can no longer differentiate fiction from reality, or at least, some fictional content is more stigmatized than it should be, with how in America (I'm talking about the whole continent here) a lot of violence in video games ''is fine'' but if you like video games with fan service or games that sexualize underage characters, then you are viewed as a threat to children, it's very ridiculous, I would say, maybe it's the fact that I like Japanese culture, or that I have a mindset of ''everything, or at least almost everything, should be allowed in fiction because it's not real'', but as some people have said, playing Grand Theft Auto won't turn you into a killer, in the same way that playing Senran Kagura won't make you a predator.

It hasn't been mentioned here, but I'm convinced that the stupid report found on the official VSC website has something to do with this, it's possible (or a fact) that Sony Europe has heard of the existence of that report, and as such, they didn't want to be associated with a game that ''clearly promotes the sexualisation of children via the sexual interaction between the game player and the female characters.'' Again, even if we admit that Japanese games really sexualize young female characters, it doesn't change the fact that Sony America and Europe have allowed games that do exactly that before, you might be right if you say that the approach of ''it's been allowed before, so it should always be allowed'' isn't the best approach to take either, and that if something doesn't turn out well in the end, it's just good sense to not do it again, but to say that is to imply that the launch of games with fan service (and underage characters) outside of Japan has caused problems or that it shouldn't happen again, which is not true, nobody is being hurt during the development of games like Dungeon Travelers 2, Mary Skelter: Nightmares, Record of Agarest War 2, etc...

Perhaps we have some differences in regards to what we find acceptable in a video game, I mean, this response is being written by someone who considers himself very anti-censorship, after all, maybe we should leave this matter here. On a more positive note, PQube has spoken about the possibility of a PC version, which would be great for the people who want to play the game (in English), still, I think that Omega Labyrinth Z should have been released outside of Asia without problems, and nothing will change that.

Hey, that's fair enough. I have respect for anyone who's willing to respectfully disagree instead of attacking the other party. I also can't stress enough that I do not intend to villainize you or anyone else who is in favor of a western release for this game. What I said here wasn't meant to imply that I thought any less of those who supported the western release, and I do sincerely apologize if I sounded as though I felt that way.


Another interesting thing that came to mind while reading your post was how there was recently a game that the publisher said would have to be censored in Japan, but would be uncensored in the west. I think it was that musou style anime game... Hawk something? Anyway, the reason was how violent and gory the game was going to be. It seems that, while we're extremely lax on violent content and far more strict on sexual content than Japan, they're lax on sexual content and far more strict on violent content than we are. So I guess it just goes to show that, like we've both mentioned, location greatly affects perception.


Also I want to say that they've said now that there was officially going to be English support in the Asian release, haven't they? It would only make sense to do so really, and it would recoup costs for them since people would import.

I can't really have an opinion on this particular instance because I don't know exactly what's in the game or who's decision it was to block it, but there are some important things to understand about the US that may also extend to the UK and much of continental Europe.

You're right in saying that there should be a distinction made between fiction and reality, and there is to a pretty high degree among most people when it comes to violence. I would argue that the violence we not only tolerate but expect and promote in videogames isn't the same kind of "fantasy" that sexually oriented content falls into. It's about the shock, the adrenaline, the flashiness. I speculate that, in the minds of a lot of people here, sexual content of any degree, from suggestive themes and mildly revealing outfits to overtly sexual situations that border on light pornography, elicit a different instinctual response even if we've come to resist much of that temptation. It's a very, very different kind of fantasy.

We've become very desensitized to violence in media and that can be good and bad in a lot of different ways. To some degree, that's also the case with sexual content, which is again good and bad. There are some things we shouldn't be desensitized to, though. There are factions in the US which seek to outright legalize, destigmatize and normalize pedophilia and, should extreme sexualization of particularly young characters continue to become more and more socially acceptable in fiction, those factions will take advantage of that and use it to promote their cause. You're right in saying that such content, if a healthy distinction is made, won't turn you into a predator. The predators, which I believe are more common than people like to believe, at least in the US, will use it to legitimize their practices.


Now again, I can't say that any of this necessarily applies to this game in general because I know next to nothing about it, but it's very relevant to the topic of censorship to bring up the point that different culture and political climate not only greatly chance perception but also what social effect content is going to have. It does change the consequences.


All that said, if it's fairly clear that US and Mexican mindsets are different enough, we shouldn't all be grouped into a category. If what's acceptable in Mexico isn't in the US, there's no reason it shouldn't be worth localizing specifically for there.