XSeed Loses U.S. Distro For Vanillaware's Muramasa

XSeed says it will no longer be distributing awaited Wii exclusive Muramasa: The Demon Blade, the latest title from Odin Sphere developer Vanillaware. The game, which charted well in Japan at launch, was originally slated to release stateside under the co-publishing agremeent between Marvelous and XSeed. Now, in a statement released to outlets including IGN, XSeed says it is "no longer involved" with the release. The title released in Japan as Oboro Muramasa on April 9th, and was widely reported to have received a decent 34/40 rating from magazine Famitsu. It features a casual Wii Remote-controlled scheme as well as a more detailed traditional option for more experienced players. Incorporating themes of traditional Japan, it employs the same art style that popularized Odin Sphere on PlayStation 2. "We firmly believe in the product and will look forward to seeing it release in North America," says XSeed. No specific reason was given for the change of plans, nor specific details offered on who will instead handle the game in North America. "We enjoy and respect our relationship with Marvelous, and are committed to working together to deliver an amazing line up of games in the U.S. including the highly anticipated Little King's Story, the epic RPG Arc Rise Fantasia and Suda51's intriguing mystery adventure Flower, Sun, Rain," concludes XSeed. [UPDATE: Muramasa's new publisher is revealed to be Ignition Entertainment.]