Japanese developer Inti Creates has announced (via Gematsu) that Gal Gun Returns, a remastered version of its original 2011 bishÅjo rail shooter, has been canceled for Xbox One consoles. No explicit reason was given, but the company did release a statement noting that it could not “ensure consistency” of the title after a recent discussion with Microsoft, fueling suspicion that the cancellation probably had something to do with the game’s controversial content.
In Gal Gun, players star as a second-year male student who is lusted after by school girls after being shot by an angel’s cupid arrows. The core gameplay revolves around shooting and repelling the advances of female students with “Pheromone Arrows,” which can be strategically aimed at certain portions of the body for a powerful “Ecstasy Shot.”
“As a remaster of the original Gal Gun, we wanted to strive to ensure that we stayed true to the spirit of the first entry in the Gal Gun series, and while development of the Xbox version was complete and the master ROM under review, it became apparent, after productive discussion with Microsoft, that we would be unable to ensure consistency of experience across all platforms,” a portion of Inti Creates’ statement reads.
Gal Gun: Double Peace, Gal Gun’s sequel, was actually banned by the New Zealand government a couple of years ago for its “contentious” content, which, according to the official decision, includes revealing clothing, reticules that allow players to see through garments, and heavy innuendo.
“The main purpose of the game is the gratuitous sexualisation of its high-school aged female characters, who throw themselves at the player in order to confess their love to him,” the decision sent to the chief censor reads. “Defeating them requires providing them with so much pleasure that they experience ‘euphoria’ (this is depicted as a kind of fauxorgasm), which causes them to fall down with hands covering their pubic area or reclined in such a way that their underwear is completely visible.”
Gal Gun Returns is still scheduled for release on the Nintendo Switch and PC platforms. The former will be released on January 28, 2021, while the Steam version will be released on February 12, 2021.
Gal Gun Returns Cancellation of the Xbox One Version (Full Statement)
Today we would like to announce that we will no longer be releasing Gal Gun Returns on the Xbox family of consoles.
As a remaster of the original Gal Gun, we wanted to strive to ensure that we stayed true to the spirit of the first entry in the Gal Gun series, and while development of the Xbox version was complete and the master ROM under review, it became apparent, after productive discussion with Microsoft, that we would be unable to ensure consistency of experience across all platforms.
As a result we have decided to re-focus attention to Nintendo Switch and PC for the upcoming release of Gal Gun Returns.
We understand the disappointment from everyone who was looking forward to playing the game on Xbox One, and would like to thank everyone for their ongoing support.
Please accept our sincerest apologies for this change in the planned release. We hope you enjoy the Gal Gun experience on other platforms.
We look forward to continuing working with Microsoft on other PQube releases going forward.
Announcement:The Xbox One release of "Gal*Gun Returns" has been cancelled. We sincerely apologize to fans who were anticipating its release. You can find more details on the game's homepage. The Nintendo Switch and Steam versions will release as planned. #ããããã #galgun pic.twitter.com/T9xBEZzxyC
— ãããããofficial (@galgun_official) December 25, 2020