 |
| Andrew Barker |
Ah, licencing issues.
12.27.14 - 2:51 AM
Released earlier this year, sci-fi visual novel Steins;Gate was positively received across the board by critics, including us! Publisher JAST USA released it physically and digitally, but only through their own online store. SiliconEra recently got in touch with them to find out why it wasn't also released on Steam, especially considering the success of other visual novels on the platform.
JAST USA's founder, Peter Payne, had this to say, "Steins;Gate was developed by several companies, including Mages/5pb and Nitroplus, and the ownership of the title is very complex, to the point that we had to get permission for a lot of minute details on the game, including the official spelling of El Psy Kongroo (not El Psy Congroo, even though some merchandise was accidentally released with that spelling). The company is trying to do some interesting things with the IP in the West, since Steins;Gate is one of their major titles.
We have a license to sell the PC version, which we’re doing in shrink-wrapped package and download form, including the recently released 'Steins;Gate The Best' reduce price version, and they're trying to make a release on PS3 and Vita and do some other interesting things. Obviously we’d like to get permission to put the game on Steam, but we currently don’t have this from them currently."
In short, it doesn't look like it will happen any time soon, if ever. Fortunately, it will be released in English on PlayStation 3 and Vita in 2015.
