Can't they just publish it on European eShop ? I mean come on, it's not like they have to change something, just put some files on a store.............
If some XSeed PR person see this message, I hope he could clarify about my question...
No, they cannot. And, yes, it is like they'd have to change a lot of things.
US release ≠ EU release
You cannot just release a game in the states and then magically toss it into another territory.
1) Programming -
There are programming changes required for any title being released in the EU. Region settings, swapping out digital manuals (see below), changing the age levels as per new ratings (below - below), correcting and terminology within the text that is required (US terminology ≠ EU terminology), etc. This requires a development team. XSEED is just a publisher, not a developer, and has no programmers. Without a team to make internal changes, there is no localized release.
And if you hope to maximize your release by having multiple languages... that's a whole different can of worms.
2) Testing -
Different versions (US versus EU) of games require separate first-party (SONY, NOA, Microsoft, etc.) testing before being allowed to release it into the market. Just as it was tested in the states, it would need to be tested by NOE.
3) Territory Registration -
Before you can even do testing (or release, obviously) in a territory, especially for digital releases, there are accounts that need to be set up, proposal forms to submit (just because you have a game doesn't mean they are going to publish anything), approvals, and any number of paperwork submissions required to set up your game in another country. If you think I'm counting pennies by adding this here, you're wrong. It's impossible to release a game without filing it properly and it takes time/effort.
4) QA Testing -
To confirm all programming changes made to release an EU product are in place and not suddenly showing up in Greek or crashing the game, this is another step before you even submit for first-party testing. You want to make sure everything is correct in a new territory version because they will fail you for the things I mentioned in #1 in a heartbeat, and you will have to start all over again. Turnaround for the final testing can eat A LOT of time, FYI.
5) Manual -
As mentioned above, EU release requires an EU manual (this can involve changes to terminology, logos, legal lines, etc.). Changes have to be made and then kicked to the dev team for implementation.
6) EU Rating -
People always seem to forget this one, but to release games in the EU you need a rating just like the US. Only, with the EU, if you hope to release in all countries possible, this can require several different rating agencies to evaluate your product. This means sending a separate submission to each one and a separate fee. It's neither free or cheap in some cases or swift.
These are but a few of the basic loc department things required in order to release in another territory. This does not include any of the trial and tribulations of the sales and or marketing team (metadata creation, content descriptions, content descriptions translated into multiple languages, etc.). It's not easy, it's not free, it requires internal programming changes, and it takes a lot of time.
Unless I hear otherwise, I wont believe it. I could understand if it was another company who need to make some changes like logos and such. But I really doubt that it requires that much of a work to make it happen.
I hope the above has helped.
