Shovel Knight Aussie eShop Status Updated
In a post on their blog, Yacht Club Games have expanded on the international release schedule for the highly-popular Shovel Knight. Although there is no set date for a release outside of North America, they have provided a very clear and frank explanation of the process of getting a game rated and approved for sale.
Currently the classification in Australia is at the “External Ratings” stage, where the developers are waiting on the Classification Board to give Shovel Knight it’s final age rating.
Yacht Club Games said on the External forces affecting the approval process:
These teams work hard but they also have their own systems, schedules, and structures in place. We’re not the only game in the world and so we can’t expect every team to drop what they’re doing and immediately focus on only us. Often times working three times as hard does not get the game done three times as fast as these require back and forth communication. As both the development team and publisher, the timing of our game’s release is ultimately our responsibility!
This process can take some time, but fingers crossed this all flows through quickly and smoothly. So what’re your thoughts on this? Were you a Kickstarter supporter, and if so, how do you feel about the delay? Let us know below.
I’m definitely waiting with bated breath for the little icon to move along his little progress bar until it comes out here in AU. It’s hard seeing all the great reviews pop up online of the US version, but I’m sure it will be worth it, and it’s great that the devs are at least communicating their progress to us. In an infographic no less!
Australia is still waiting on:
– Unepic
– Scram Kitty
– Armillo
– Shovel Knight
Can someone please clarify what is happening with these titles as well?
Yeah, I was a kickstarter supporter for this and it pained me when I realised the code they sent out were for the US version only, but I can wait. My backlog is still too big to really worry too hard about it.
I know the armillo dev said that the rating classification cost too much for them in Australia. In US it costs nothing, in Europe it costs a bit but not too much but in Australia it cost heaps. They said if they make enough they might release it in Aus later on.
You’re welcome …
Well the Scram Kitty Dev Tweeted this to my querry,
“Hi there! We don’t have anything to announce regarding other regions just yet. As soon as we do, it’ll be posted here!”
https://twitter.com/dakkodakko/status/486817148036476929
It only costs $890 for a Level 2 classification in Australia (written description, video footage of possible M-rated material and typical gameplay footage). Given that most of the eshop games should be pretty obviously low impact in terms of violence/themes, this should suffice.
However if it costs “too much” what is the market size? 20 sales?
That’s a good point to make. Especially when it’s available on Steam in Australia … right now … unrated. That will steal at least 75% of those sales, right?