Sony Announces New European Date For LittleBigPlanet

Key PlayStation 3 title LittleBigPlanet is to be released "no later than" November 3rd in Europe, according to an announcement made by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE). The game was due to be released on Friday, October 24th in Europe but was delayed on Friday after Sony received a complaint that one of the licensed music tracks included verses of the Qur’an. Some Muslim groups consider it offensive for any text from the Qur’an to be used together with music in this way. Although the initial complaint had requested only a patch and the switching out of subsequent, post-launch retail copies, Sony chose to recall all currently pressed versions of the game and to delay its release. A new North American release date of Monday, 27th October (delayed from Tuesday, 21st October) was then quickly announced via the official PlayStation blog. The situation in Europe has been more confused, with SCEE today indicating that the game will be available "no later than the week commencing Monday 3rd November" in Europe, the Middle East and Australia. Traditionally, new video games are released on a Friday in Europe, but the phrasing of the statement seems to indicate either that stock will be initially limited -- or that the company is unable to guarantee an exact release date in specific countries.