Update: We have just received a response from Travis Shrodes, NIS America’s head of brand marketing. Here’s his statement:
“Update for Trails of Cold Steel III DLC: Juna’s “Active Red” costume DLC is coming to NA/EU, and will be free for a limited time on release. Please look forward to further details in an upcoming announcement.”
Original:
Fans have noticed The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3 is missing a piece of costume DLC in the west.
Even though the “Juna’s special costume Active Red” DLC is available in Japan and Hong Kong, the same piece of DLC is not available in the US or UK. You can find video of that costume via a third-party YouTube account here (viewer discretion is advised).
While some suspected this may be due to the character’s age (17) or the costume being too “provocative” (part of her buttocks can be seen), there are other characters who have had their DLC costumes available, and with younger characters (Musse and Altina). Furthermore, the character’s cheerleader DLC costume is also present in US and UK PlayStation stores, featuring a form-fitting top and short skirt (viewer discretion is advised).
Despite the above evidence, some were concerned that this was a partial implementation of Sony’s policies on sexual content from December 2018. This has resulted in censorship and removal of gameplay mechanics of some anime-styled video games on PlayStation platforms.
A member of NIS America staff (Travis) spoke to users on the NIS America Official Discord. While the reason had not yet been confirmed and NIS America were still investigating, they did reveal that it was not due to censorship from Sony or anyone else.
Other users also theorized that the DLC had been made by Kadokawa, and so licencing issues had prevented the DLC being sold in the west. Others fans on other platforms have also theorized it was due to a communication error. However, we must emphasize that we have been unable to confirm either of the above theories for ourselves.
A NIS America representative spoke to One Angry Gamer, stating (in Billy D’s words) “they are looking into the situation and will provide an official update on their blog, Twitter and Facebook when they have information to share.”
We have also reached out to NIS America for more information.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3 is out now on PlayStation 4.
