Publisher Humble Games distributed the Nintendo Switch version of the FPS Proteus by Bounding Box Software on October 28. This work supports Japanese display and has already been released in Japan for PCs and Xbox One. However, the Nintendo Switch version was not distributed in Japan, and it seems that there was a rating problem behind it.
PROTEUS is an FPS affected by classic works in the 1990s. In the campaign mode, the main character aims to defeat the Producer called Productions that created the world of this work. Proceed through the dimly facilities and bury monsters that appear one after another with a variety of guns. In addition to supporting online matches and cooperation play, it also includes a level editor that can create and share original stages.
This work was a veteran developer team called Michael Roller and Jason Monica, who walked across Raven Software, Overkill Software, and ID Software. After successful funding at Kickstarter, early access distribution was started in STEAM in November 2020. And it was officially released in September this year. This work features visuals and gameplay reminiscent of classical FPS while using modern rendering technology. Steam user reviews have gained a very popular status that is now popular at 94%.
This work is also ported for PS4/PS5/Xbox One in accordance with the official release of the PC version. And the Nintendo Switch version has been released this time, but it has not been distributed in Japan so far. The reason is that the manufacturer explains that it is convenient for rating.
TOUCH, who is working on English-Japanese translation of many game works, such as Inscription and NEON WHITE, posted about the trends on this work on SNS on October 31. When the manufacturer was informed about the key provision of Proteus, he revealed that the Nintendo Switch version was not released in Japan for the time being. According to his quoted email text, the background seems to be related to the 18 years old or older rating in Japan.
In this work, if you shoot the enemy, blood splashes will fly flashy, and the sea will be in the bloody sea. In addition, there is a rupture element of the enemy’s body, and although it uses retro-flavored visuals, the impact of Gore expression is large. Probably, such expressions were affected, and they were rated for those over the age of 18. Even in North America, it is the highest rating for home use, such as ESB: m (for 17 years old or older), and is noted about blood, violence, and gore expression.
However, in the domestic Nintendo Switch, many works for those over the age of 18 have been released. For example, DOOM (2016), which was also involved in the developer of this work, is one of them. The reason why PROTEUS cannot be released is that it uses ARC rating instead of Hero.
ARC is a rating organization based overseas, with rating organizations in countries and regions, such as ESB in North America and Peg in Europe. Only the games and apps for downloads are the subject of judging, and the judging fee is free. In September 2020, the Nintendo E-Shop in Japan has also introduced ARC in addition to HERO. However, titles rated for those over the age of 18 at ARC cannot be distributed. In that case, Nintendo is looking for a HERO rating (related article).
If you look at the Xbox One version of the store page of this work, you can see the description ARC 18+. This means that it can not be distributed at the Nintendo E Shop in Japan as described above. At this time, HERO is not a member of ARC, so it is not the result of the examination in light of the Japanese standards. As a result, Nintendo may have been cautious about works that have been rated to the highest target age. In fact, SHE has also taken the same response in PS Store, and the PS4/PS5 version of this work has not been released in Japan. (Related article).
Humble Games, the seller of this work, had previously been released in Japan for Nintendo Switch, but has shifted to it after the introduction of ARC. The background may be that the examination fee is free, and that overseas manufacturers are easier to complete than HERO. However, if you are over 18 years old at ARC, you will not be able to distribute domestic console as soon as (except for Xbox). In this case, such cases seemed to be just bright.
PROTEUS is being distributed in Japan for PC (Steam) and Xbox One. It is also provided for Xbox Game Pass. According to TOUCH’s report, Humble Games reported that the Nintendo Switch version could not be released in Japan for the time being. I would like to look forward to the continuation of the company’s domestic distribution, including the PS4/PS5 version.