NIS America to delist six games from PSN and Switch including God Wars and Natural Doctrine
Publisher NIS America has announced that six titles, all RPGs, are going to be delisted on the PlayStation Network Store and Nintendo eShop in the US and EU regions. The first delistings will begin by June 11, 2023, and continue through November 13, 2023. The affected games include tactical RPGs God Wars and Natural Doctrine and dungeon RPGs Demon Gaze, Demon Gaze II, and The Lost Child. Though five titles are listed here, the delistings cover two different versions of God Wars, bringing the total to six games across PSN and Switch.
Here's the full list of affected titles, along with their platforms and the date of delisting:
- Demon Gaze (PS Vita) - June 11, 2023
- Demon Gaze II (PS4, PS Vita) - November 13, 2023
- God Wars: Future Past (PS4, PS Vita) - June 15, 2023
- God Wars: The Complete Legend (Switch) - August 30, 2023
- The Lost Child (PS4, PS Vita, Switch - June 18, 2023
- Natural Doctrine (PS3, PS4, PS Vita) - September 29, 2023
NIS America did not give a specific reason for the delisting, but it is most likely due to a publisher changeover. All six titles affected hold a common connection: They were originally developed or published by Kadokawa Games in Japan and by NIS America in the US and EU regions.
However, in May 2022, Kadokawa Games split up, with much of the publisher's IP and development capacity going to a new company, Dragami Games. Dragami's founder is Yoshimi Yasuda, former President and CEO of Kadokawa Games. Dragami went on to re-publish a number of former Kadokawa Games titles by itself (like Relayer Advanced) or with new partners (like Demon Gaze Extra).
This isn't the first time NIS America has delisted titles due to a publisher changeover. In 2020, it delisted the whole Danganronpa series from PS Vita and PS4. The games became unavailable digitally for some time, before being re-released under Spike Chunsoft, which had recently opened international publishing operations. In other words, the games won't be gone forever.
In fact, some of them are already being sold elsewhere, under new banners. God Wars: The Complete Legend is being sold by Dragami Games on Steam at this time.