Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Xbox 360 Version Cancelled in Japan

Yesterday, Konami announced that the Xbox 360 version of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has been cancelled in Japan, but will still release on the platform in Western markets.

Konami didn’t say exactly why the Xbox 360 version was saying, only saying that the decision was made due to “various reasons.” Considering the underwhelming popularity (to put it mildly) of the Xbox 360 in Japan, I can’t imagine too many people will care.

That Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is releasing at all is still a surprise to me. Things weren’t looking particularly well for the game’s future when it was still in the hands of Kojima Productions, but now that Platinum Games has taken the reigns it looks like the game is finally on track to actually release.

Before Metal Gear Rising got the ‘Revengeance’ subtitle, the game looked quite a bit different. Konami never showed much of the game, but what little we saw of its early iterations suggested that freedom to slice and dice your enemies apart in any way that you choose–slice off arms, legs, and so on–was one of the game’s bigger mechanics.

Slicing and dicing is still the focus of Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, but it looks to be a more focused experience; it’s taken on more of an action game feel. The free-form slicing is still there, but as a punctuation to the violence rather than a focus.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is set to release February of next year on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in North America and Europe.