Bandai Namco Entertainment is gearing up for the release of Super Robot Wars V on Steam for PC. Gamers who have been fans of the Super Robot Taisen series were instantly excited to find out about the game coming to Steam, but with all good news in today’s era we also have to cope with the inevitable bad news that comes with it. This time around the bad news is that Super Robot Wars V on Steam will be region locked so only those from certain parts of Asia will be able to play it.
Sankaku Complex took note that the Steam store page for Super Robot Wars V is region locked. The game is inaccessible for anyone outside of Asia.
According to the SteamDB entry, specifically only the following countries can access the game:
- Japan
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Hong Kong
- Thailand
- Taiwan
- Malaysia
- Philippines
- Indonesia
- Vietnam
There was no announcement by Bandai Namco as to why the game is region blocked, and anyone who attempts to visit the page who isn’t from the above listed countries will receive a site error.
Even though there are multiple reports and lots of discussion surrounding the matter, we still don’t know why the game is region blocked on Steam.
A few people have speculated that it may be due to licensing agreement issues, and that Bandai doesn’t have the rights to distribute the game in the West.
Without an official statement, though, it’s anyone’s guess as to why the game is region locked on Steam. You might still be able to get your hands on the game if you can use a VPN to circumvent the lock, but you would be risking losing your Steam account in order to do so.
Super Robot Wars V is due for release in the aforementioned regions starting October 2nd.
(Thanks for the news tip Guardian EvaUnit02)