Not Available: A Short Horror Story

Don’t you just hate it when you’re anticipating a game and it turns out that it isn’t going to be released in your territory? How many of you were expecting this or that game, only to discover that it was reserved for North-American or European players only?

Games such as Vindictus, possibly the greatest example of this – luckily the European version is finally underway. But there are more games, and keep in mind that we’re not discussing quality here, since there are fans for every type of game out there. So, any European Marvel Super Hero Squad Online fans out there, still awaiting this brawler? And those who want some Diablo-esque antics and still can’t play Fortune Online? Well, you could go for great alternatives such as Drakensang Online, but that’s just a suggestion.

What matters here is that the time gap to launch in different territories seems sometimes like an oddity, or bad marketing. Aren’t publishers interested in our fresh micro-transaction money? Aren’t they afraid that what seemed compelling at first will later turn out as something stale and way past its prime? Will they still make money from it? I understand there are some technicalities to work out first and some translating to do, but when a game is already in English, how long does it take to ‘translate’ it to… English, for those poor European players?

Each time I see a “this game is not available in your region”, I could tremble with fear. But actually, I just go “oh well” and move on to the next free-to-play game. After all, it’s their loss, don’t you agree?

Editor’s note: Which games are/were you expecting that aren’t/weren’t available in your region? Not free-to-play only, give us some retail examples if you wish.