LittleBigPlanet Delayed Due to Muslim Verses in Song

Kris Erickson • Oct 17, 2008 • Comments ()

We finally have an update regarding the LittleBigPlanet delay. Earler we reported that the game was likely going to be delayed until November. We now know that this delay is real, and will only effect European customers. We also have an official reason for the change in release date. One of the music tracks in the game, "Swingin Safari" contains some Arabic verses from the Quran. The use of religious verse in entertainment such as video games is strictly prohibited by the Muslim faith.

The offending words are:

1- In the 18th second: "كل نفس ذائقة الموت" ("kollo nafsin tha'iqatol mawt", literally: 'Every soul shall have the taste of death').

2- Almost immediately after, in the 27th second: "كل من عليها فان" ("kollo man alaiha fan", literally: 'All that is on earth will perish').

Because middle eastern countries are covered in the same global market as Europe for video game releases, it is likely that all existing copies of the game will have to recalled and remastered before release. The American version will ship as-is with no changes made to the in-game music. In respone to the rumors, Sony issued the following statement about the delay of LittleBigPlanet:

"During the review process prior to the release of LittleBigPlanet, it has been brought to our attention that one of the background music tracks licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Qur’an. We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologise for any offence that this may have caused. We’ll confirm the new launch date shortly."

[Update: We now have an offical release date for LBP: October 27th in North America and October 31st in the UK]