Entering yet another month of hesitant precautions to battle the gripping novel coronavirus, the video game industry has just ran into another wall as of lately. It has become accustomed to anticipate upcoming events or even releasing titles to be on standby as organizers/companies are hindered by the disease’s impact on society. But the latest result from COVID-19 has officially put a nation into standstill for the time being.
Just this week, it was announced by Japanese Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, he declared a State of Emergency to combat further spread of the ailment. And while we have witnessed similar measure being taken in the United States, cancelling the monumental Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), this instead faltered the nation’s respected ratings system for the duration of the order.
While E3’s postponement for 2020 has resulted with companies and even covering outlets resorting to digital means of disclosing upcoming announcements, Japan’s Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO) has halted operations for the following month, the firm reveals. Japanese media outlet Automaton disclosed the news on Twitter today.
Thankfully Nintendo Life’s @Sephazon on Twitter translated the post for English readers to understand the seriousness of the matter, which you can read above. “All reviews will cease for one month, which may have an enormous impact on new game launches in Japan,” the post reads following localized interpretation.
What this directly means is that all title releases and/or announcements for approaching projects planned in the country of Japan will be shelved for the next month until operations are back in order for CERO. The Japanese government announced in conjunction with established State of Emergency that all business should convert to work-from-home strategies, essentially restricting the organization from properly processing upcoming software.
With the dramatic effect imposed on Japan directly, other anticipating fans globally will also be impacted by the decision. If you thought it took long for localized releases to arrive normally, this will certainly make the situation more prolonged. Working from home has already shown to take a toll on development processes in the west, but the delay from the ratings system will undoubtedly delay approaching releases.
Were there any upcoming video games you were anticipating to release from Japan?
