Sony has confirmed to Eurogamer that LittleBigPlanet has been delayed from its release date--originally scheduled for next week--and that no new date is available. That's a worldwide delay, by the way, not just a European delay.
Why? Because one of the songs licensed for the soundtrack contains bits of text from the Qu'ran. In an effort to not offend the Muslim community, Sony is recalling the game to edit out the song.
A thread found on Sony's European forums gives a bit more detail, claiming that the statements are made during the third level. Also according to this thread, the song is Tapha Niang by Toumani Diabate's Symmetrical Orchestra. At two points in the song, phrases that translate to "every soul shall have the taste of death" and "all that is on earth will perish" are heard.
I'll just point out here that those are fairly heavy statements for a game like LittleBigPlanet to be making, religious text or not. The offending bits can currently be heard here.
SCEE claims that a new date will be made available shortly. Most major US retailers seem to still be showing the original 10/21 ship date as of this writing.
[UPDATE] Sony's Director of Corporate Communications & Social Media, Patrick Seybold, has posted an update on SCEA's official blog announcing that the game's release will only be delayed by one week, putting it on shelves during the week of October 27. That's a pretty fast turnaround!
211 Comments