Just last week, NIS America’s President Takuro Yamashita’s interview with MCV UK went viral—this was for a lot of reasons. Chief of these was that Yamashita-san outright called Sony out on their apparently dismissive attitude towards working with smaller publishers (such as NISA themselves). But he also dropped some details about the potential Nintendo Switcb exclusivity for the upcoming SNK Heroines, which, he stated, was an idea that SNK, Nintendo, and NIS America had all been enthusiastic about.
That last part is what he has apologized for in a new statement released today—he notes and specifies that it was NISA’s idea, and not SNK’s, to try for Switch exclusivity for SNK Heroes, and apologizes for any confused messaging he may have intimated regarding SNHK and Sony.
“I must extend my most heartfelt apology to SNK and Sony Interactive Entertainment. The truth is that the Nintendo Switch exclusive plan was originally decided by NIS America, and only later among discussions with influential SNK people did we decide the best option moving forward would be to have as much exposure as possible. This is why that in the end, we are bringing the PS4 version of SNK Heroines to the market, and even supported this version at the NISA Press Event and in the press meetings in February and March.
“In discussing matters with MCV, I thought that some insider information would make them interested in the overall conversation, and such lip service did not stand on the side of truth.
“Once again, I apologize to SNK and Sony if it made them seem negative towards the PS4 platform in any way, and stress that the original goal of a “Nintendo Switch exclusive” version of SNK Heroines came from NISA.”
So, uh… that’s that, I guess. It has to have been pretty damaging to the company’s business relationships to seemingly throw SNK under the bus like that, especially with regards to Sony. It’s good that he apologized and clarified right away, though.
