It almost seems that no matter where you turn, something has happened somewhere in the gaming industry and sometimes, just sometimes, it may rub some people the wrong way. That may just happen to be the case for NIS America CEO and president Takuro Yamashita when he gave a recent interview with the UK trade publication MCV about NIS’ growing support for the Nintendo Switch.

During the interview with MCV, Yamashita-san explained the current situation with SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy, an SNK developed brawler, which is being published by NIS America for both the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. During the interview, it was stated by Yamashita why the Nintendo Switch will be receiving a physical copy of the game while the PlayStation 4 is being opted for only a digital release via the Play Station store.

“I’ll give you a scoop! Originally we signed with SNK on SNK Heroines just on the PS4 format. Then last year an opportunity happened at Gamescom, two third parties happened to meet all together outside Nintendo’s meeting room. The first meeting was between NIS America and Nintendo of Europe (NOE) and the next was meeting was between SNK and NOE. Of course, these two were separate meetings.

Then after the meeting influential people from SNK came to our booth and said: “Hey, Mr. Yamashita, is it possible to cancel our contact on PS4? Nintendo wants to work on this title on an exclusive basis!” So these third parties come together and the team at NIS and SNK decided to go with Nintendo for the western market. Physical copy-wise, it’s going to be a Switch exclusive. PS4-wise it’s going to be just digital. That’s the deal. We will not release a packaged version for PS4 format. Then Nintendo will act as distributor for this game. Then they promised to buy a lot of units. I can’t reveal the number of units they’ve guaranteed, that’s secret talk.

During his interview with MCV, Yamashita was then asked about NIS America’s strategy for Europe moving forwards, and he released the following statement:

“We’re starting to do more on Nintendo Switch. SNK Heroines is not the only one. We’ve teamed up with Nintendo Europe for our other Switch titles. They support us in a good way. Compared to that, Sony is not friendly with small publishers like us. They just care about big Japanese companies. Also, if we simultaneously release a Switch version and a PS4 version of the same title, currently the sales trend is two to one. That means the Switch version sells twice as much as the PS4 version. Physically and digitally.”

Unfortunately for Yamashita, it seems that his statements may have ruffled some feathers over at somewhere down the line between their partners over at Sony. You can read the official apology provided to us by NIS America’s president down below.

“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.

Takuro Yamashita CEO and President of NIS America, Inc.”

While Yamashita seems perfectly well stated, we still wonder what will happen now and if NIS America will work to release a physical edition at a later date for PlayStation 4. However, we do want to know what you think. Was it unwise of Yamashita-san to release his statements so publicly or do you think that he is perfectly entitled to point out that NIS America titles have always done better on Nintendo platforms?

Let us know what you think in the comments below or on our social media pages!

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About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console game reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the borders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPGs, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter or Facebook.