Worldwide LittleBigPlanet Delay

As you have probably read in the, quote “Red Bar of Doom” on the top of the main page (Edit, it’s gone now, you were too slow!), Sony has been forced to apply a worldwide delay to the much hyped LittleBigPlanet. The reason; two references to the Qur’an in a music track for the game. This is a bitter blow for Sony who were pinning their hopes on the game selling consoles

A licensed music track for the game is the culprit. The song includes two rather unflattering quotes found in the Islamic religious text the Qur’an. A storm in a teacup you might think? A helpful soul at Kotaku has provided a translation of the offending phrases:

1- In the 18th second: “كل نفس ذائقة الموت” (“kollo nafsin tha’iqatol mawt”, literally: ‘Every soul shall have the taste of death’).

2- Almost immediately after, in the 27th second: “كل من عليها فان” (“kollo man alaiha fan”, literally: ‘All that is on earth will perish’).

The game has been recalled and as of yet there’s been no clear confirmation on when to expect it. November 14th has been cited by a number of sources but gameindustry.biz believe the delay might not be so drastic. It’s unclear whether the track in question will simply be removed from the game or if the offending phrases will simply be edited out.  

A press release from Sony explains the problem:

“During the review process prior to the release of LittleBigPlanet, it has been brought to our attention that one of the background music tracks licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Qur’an,” admitted the company in a statement.

“We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologise for any offence that this may have caused.”

LittleBigPlanet has already been receiving some fantastic review scores and all signs are that the game was about to do wonders for flagging PS3 sales in the run up to the Christmas period. Microsoft have reason to celebrate now as their 360 exclusive title Fable II was due to be released on the same day as LittleBigPlanet in the UK. Now it’s been given a little bit of breathing space.

TSSZ News will update you when a concrete release date has been announced.

Edit, 17th October 2008

The new US release date of LittleBigPlanet has been revealed thanks to the Playstation.Blog. The game was due on the 21st October but will be about a week later now being shipped to stores on the 27th October. No news on a UK date yet but expect an update when once is announced.