No Afrika for Europe, says Sony

But it will be released in Japan.

Sony has told Eurogamer that it will not be publishing Afrika in Europe.

The spokesperson was unable to give anything else away, other than to confirm that it will be seeing the light of day in Japan.

Japan, incidentally, is where the third official sighting of the elusive wildlife game has recently taken place in the form of a placeholder website, which shows a rhino waddling across the screen over the words "Coming Soon...".

The only other times Afrika has stuck its neck out was at its E3 2006 unveiling and at the Tokyo Game Show last year.

Afrika is a safari game that has animals like giraffes, rhinos, lions and more roaming around the plains. Details on what you're supposed to do to these are unclear, although we presume that hunting them down and sticking their heads on your wall may not be it.

Pop over to our Afrika gamepage for the limited assets released so far.

Comments (92) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Zomoniac #1 4 years ago

  • Chrono-Kun #2 4 years ago

    All together now...

    SONY HATES EUROPE
  • bengray66 #3 4 years ago

    What a disaster!

    :\
  • Baronen #4 4 years ago

  • NorUraeus #5 4 years ago

    Would guess that is actually a 'not publish soon' rather than a 'not publish ever'
  • Beano #6 4 years ago

    "Oooooh dear.... "

    No, it's "Oooooh deer..."
  • lambtron #7 4 years ago

    Coming Soon.

    Provided you are not European.
  • Xerx3s #8 4 years ago

    Feel that love for europe! \0/
  • richardiox #9 4 years ago

    Wow, so how much of that infamous "360 killing" E3 '06 presentation has actually happened? No KZ2 yet, no more back-compat, no dual 1080p, no Afrika outside Japan....
  • chris_ace #10 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011
  • NickDude #11 4 years ago

    'Publish' - Put on a disc, put in a box, wrap it up and send it to retailers.

    It says nothing about it being a PSN Downloadable Title
  • GamesConnoisseur #12 4 years ago

    ....and yet Europe unrequited love for all thing Sony rolls on..

    /Doesnt really care for this game anyway!

  • LetsGo #13 4 years ago

    Wow, so how much of that infamous "360 killing" E3 '06 presentation has actually happened? No KZ2 yet, no more back-compat, no dual 1080p, no Afrika outside Japan....

    Crazy eh? Yet with all these, the PS3 is still outselling the 360, lol.

    Get out fanboys.
  • woodnotes #14 4 years ago

    Crazy eh? Yet with all these, the PS3 is still outselling the 360, lol.

    Only just. It's hardly "killing" it. Everyone expected PS3 to kill the 360. It hasn't, and it isn't.

    Get out fanboys.

    ps3lol ;)
    Edited by 2 at 27/05/08 @ 15:33
  • haowan #15 4 years ago

    psn games are still 'published', nick
  • menage #16 4 years ago

    Sigh. Owning both machines I still have a tendency to frown upon my PS3 once in a while. Goodluck re-inventing web 3.0, creating home, not bringing out games here, etc

    If the 360 didn't have a tendency to break I wouldn't even have bothered to buy a PS3 backup to play games on. MGS better be good:p
    I'm still buying 7 360 games this year against 2 PS ones.
    Edited by 1 at 27/05/08 @ 15:36
  • rock27gr #17 4 years ago

  • Ryze #18 4 years ago

    Looked like a non-game anyway.

    Glad I've given up wasting my money and time on Sonybollocks and letdowns.
  • Vice.Destroyer #19 4 years ago


    If the 360 didn't have a tendency to break I wouldn't even have bothered to buy a PS3 backup to play games on. MGS better be good:p


    Just when is MGS out. If that review doesn't come with a 10/10, that just might be the straw that breaks the camels back and actual fisticuffs might break out between the two different factions.

    I want MGS to get a 7. Not because I want it to suck, but just for the comedy threads
    Edited by 1 at 27/05/08 @ 15:39
  • zuljin #20 4 years ago

    @Vice.Destroyer
    I want it to get an 8. That way the extremes on both sides will be arguing forever on how crap a score 8 is, or how 8 doesn't mean a crap game at all. Cue lots of linking to the review policy, lots of 360/ps3 - lols.Lots of sales figure posting. Maybe people would get the console wars all out of their systems once and for all.

    Doubt it, but I can hope.
  • zedzee #21 4 years ago

    Afrika not being published in Europe, soon or ever?

    Crikey, they can't even spell it correctly! It's Sony we are talking about, afterall, so why am I not surprised?

    I mean, they treat UK/Europe with UTTER CONTEMPT, yet some people have been mugs enough to STILL buy their shamefully expensive and inadequate console. That's the real travesty here...That's the real tragedy!
  • Bumhug360 #22 4 years ago

    Is it being released in Africa?
  • miiiguel #23 4 years ago

    Phil in his glorious days did say PS3 didn't need to have games to sell in Europe (that was the last finger Sony stuck up me ass, after the price, the multiple downgrading SKUs, the PSP dead-pixels a plenty..., I mean I could live with all that, but don't tell me I don't need games in a "games system";).
  • zedzee #24 4 years ago

    @ Bumhug360:

    They can't deliver it to Africa, because they've spelled it wrong! It won't get there...the postman will get confused! :-)
  • the_genius #25 4 years ago

    This is not "Sony hates Europe". This is SCEE (managed by Europeans) deciding Afrika is not worth bringing over. If it turns out to be any good you can just import it anyway.

    The most amusing thing about this will be those people who were previously describing Afrika as "where's the gameplay" vapourware suddenly proclaiming it as a huge loss for Europe, just to continue their propaganda campaign against the PS3. Sad twats.
  • Vice.Destroyer #26 4 years ago

    @Zuljin

    The console war will never be over. In fact, I am pretty sure that I saw a photoshopped Lord Kitchener poster, recruiting for fanboys outside my local pub the other day. :)
  • ruttyboy #27 4 years ago

    It's almost as if they didn't see the Endless Ocean love :(
  • chris_ace #28 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011
  • yupyup #29 4 years ago

  • NickD7 #30 4 years ago

    First no Rumble for Europe, no backwards compatibilty, no good scores for Haze, Lair, and now no Afrika.

    I'm done with Sony this gen, buying a 360 instead.
  • Vin #31 4 years ago

  • Lexx87 #32 4 years ago

    MGS4 getting a 7 would be fucking brilliant...well I want it to totally rock ass but as people say the threads would be wonderful.
  • miiiguel #33 4 years ago

    the_genius (on a Gears 2; Fable 2; Too Human; Ninja Gaiden 2; Lost Odyssey; and Chetoos Thread).
    11-May-08 01:12:18 The standard of literacy in this thread is pretty revealing. I guess the 360 has taken up the mantle of chav console of choice.
    ignore poster
    Edited by 1 at 27/05/08 @ 16:03
  • shogo10 #34 4 years ago

    Jesus, you'd think Sony killed your family or something from reading some of the comments on here.
  • mowgli #35 4 years ago

    LOL AT PEOPLE WHO OWN A PS3 -ROFLSLAPMYFACEANDLICKMYANUS
  • miiiguel #36 4 years ago

    this is just for arteries-pump sake:

    ps3lol
  • Eighthours #37 4 years ago

    The most amusing thing about this will be those people who were previously describing Afrika as "where's the gameplay" vapourware suddenly proclaiming it as a huge loss for Europe, just to continue their propaganda campaign against the PS3. Sad twats.

    Other way around as well, to be fair. Those going "wow" at the screenshots now saying that it doesn't matter a damn. Both extremes will react predictably.
  • JediMasterMalik #38 4 years ago

    Shit, hopefully it'll be out in the US or the Japanese version be import friendly. I liked the look of this, was thinking it was a Pokemon snap kind of game, which I really enjoyed when I was younger.
  • gingerlink #39 4 years ago

    wait, this was supposed to be a game? (I'm not actually joking, I just failed to realise it as any more than an original tech demo)
    Edited by 1 at 27/05/08 @ 16:18
  • Steroyd #40 4 years ago

    I am outraged about not having the option to buy a game I know nothing about.
  • Dezm0nd #41 4 years ago

    I dont care that this aint coming out here, it looks like shite anyway. But I do worry about sonys lack of quality in their supposed AAA ttles.

    Lets hope this aint a trend , making poo games
  • Les #42 4 years ago

    Stupid, stupid, stupid.

    Won't affect me much as I never get EU releases (way too expensive) but most PS3 owners will rely solely on EU releases.
  • krudster #43 4 years ago

    I predict 505 will release it over here anyway. Don't fret!
  • zedzee #44 4 years ago

    WANTED: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE).

    REWARD: £££££

    CRIMES:

    1. Delayed launch in UK/Europe.
    2. Crap launch games line-up, despite the delay.
    3. Most expensive console price of ALL territories.
    4. Substantially reduced specification for UK/Euro console models.
    5. No cheap model release for UK/Europe, yet other territories, who already had made a saving on the console price, DID get a cheaper model still...!
    6. DualShock3 not released with console launch and still not launched in UK/Euro, let alone bundled.
    7. Delayed PSN game releases - some still in 'coming soon' cellar - not seen the light of day yet.
    8. Cause of delay to many multi-format games, including GTA-IV, due to complex architecture and crap developer tools/libs.
    9. Broken promises on delivery of Home, LBP, KillZone2.
    10. Utter contempt shown for backwards compatibility - with UK/Euro getting the raw end of the deal, as always.
    11. The travesty that was L.A.I.R. (or LIAR, as I call it).
    12. Motion-sensing crap with the utterly useless SixAxis controller.
    13. Delayed console discounts and lack of bundles being enjoyed in other territories, other than UK/Euro.

    14...Can anyone else think of any more?

  • chris_ace #45 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011
  • Uncle_Fishboy #46 4 years ago

    I don't know why people are bothered. I've got a PS3 and a 360 and so far I've bought one game for the PS3, a second hand copy of Motorstorm. That was played for about an hour before going back on the shelf. I played a mates resistance and that was mild pap. The 360 is the machine for games, the PS3 makes a nice blu ray player.

    So personally I couldn't give a giraffes cock that this piece of software isn't coming out because I wouldn't have bought it anyway. If it comes out on the 360 and you can hump your mates lion cub online then it's a buy.
  • monkie_king #47 4 years ago

    It was never going to take Jambo Safari's crown anyway.
  • des #48 4 years ago

    What is Africa(game)?Peeping Tom simulator for animals,hunting simulator or what?
  • Wyrm #49 4 years ago

    Are they fucking mad? There is huge interest in it already based on pure visuals, if they brought it out, it would sell. What have they got to lose? Look at the amount of garbage they have willingly released.
    Edited by 1 at 27/05/08 @ 17:06
  • murphy245 #50 4 years ago

    Il just import it problem solved.
  • mikeck #51 4 years ago

    "Details on what you're supposed to do to these are unclear, although we presume that hunting them down and sticking their heads on your wall may not be it".

    If it's like this: "you can hump your mates lion cub online then it's a buy" then I'm sold ;)

    Safari dating sim? Safaru pseudo-MMO? Come on spill it...
  • alimokrane #52 4 years ago

    Well people in europe are buying PS3s and this Sony's way of thanking them as usual. Well done Idiots!
  • woodnotes #53 4 years ago

    why are 360 fanboys so annoyed, is it because 360 excusive ninja gaiden 2 turned out to be rubbish. lol how about that for some fanboy bait...who will bite 1st

    I know. HAZE has completely and utterly obliterated it. Oh, I bit.


    I don't see what the big deal is about AFRIKA. If people really want it they'll easily be able to buy it from eBay or an import store. All three of you.
    Edited by 1 at 27/05/08 @ 17:37
  • drumbaby #54 4 years ago

    Still, better than NG2, right?
  • captainrentboy #55 4 years ago

    ''why are 360 fanboys so annoyed, is it because 360 excusive ninja gaiden 2 turned out to be rubbish. lol how about that for some fanboy bait...who will bite 1st ''
    I'm not biting as such, I'm just finding it strange that anyone would gloat about Ninja Gaiden 2 getting 7/10, when just last week the PS3's considerably more hyped exclusive, Haze, got 4/10 :/
    Back on topic, I saw very little of Afrika bar those tech demo looking vids yonks ago, I'm not even sure what genre it was, so I don't feel it's that big a loss for Europe.
    Apologie on the other hand, wasn't this one of those massive Sony big hitter exclusives that he would include in his gigantic lists of upcoming AAA titles. :)
  • Widge #56 4 years ago

    I would have got it for my Gem though! I don't think anyone rambling around these pages would be interested in it.
  • hiddenranbir #57 4 years ago

    Didn't Sony blabber that Europe is their most important market?

    Oh no wait, it's also we're cheapskates.

    Sort it the f- out, Sony.
  • Ryze #58 4 years ago

    Oh yeah, where are Apololol and hedknob these days?

    NG2 is far from rubbish - it's a wonderful game that has stupidly retained and magnified some of the same annoying flaws. It'd still wipe the floor with most action combat games.
  • CARL05 #59 4 years ago

    LOL! I can just imagine the tears in the eyes of the Sony fanboys!

    Falling on their knees and crying into the sky "Why o' Sony do you not love me!"

    ... the answer to that my friend is because you are European!

    ----

    EDIT: What is this all about humping lion cubs!?!?! That is on two tiers of weird:
    1) It's an animal, do you get off on watching them mate?
    2) A cub is a child!!!!!
    Edited by 1 at 27/05/08 @ 18:35
  • elvenscroll #60 4 years ago

    @murphy245
    "Il just import it problem solved."

    +1. Fucking annoying though.

  • Landmaster #61 4 years ago

    Will Africa get it?
  • GamerG #62 4 years ago

    Gabe Newell Continues to be proven right
  • chris_ace #63 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011
  • DjFlex52 #64 4 years ago

    360 owners being the worst, blah blah Sony ass rapes europe, Sony lies and is evil, Sony puts razor blades in ice creams and sells them to kids, watching Sony Films at the cinema and on Blu ray gives you eye cancer.

    @chris_ace

    Not so sure about that. I think I've heard about MS' RROD problems and the 360 is just a FPS machine from PS3 owners with just as much frequency.
    First people argue about which console is the best then it's about which fanboys are worst.

    Conclusion: Neither console is the best and all fanboys suck.
  • Max_Powers #65 4 years ago

  • UncleLou #66 4 years ago

    Afrika not being published in Europe, soon or ever?

    Crikey, they can't even spell it correctly!


    Weird, looks like it's spelled absolutely correctly from where I am standing.
  • captainrentboy #67 4 years ago

    Fair enough chris_ace, although I can't agree on which side is worse, they're both equally as cuntish.
    I used to rip into the PS3 a lot, but then I thought ''Hey, I'm 25, it's time to stop defending an electrical item(360) that sits under my TV''.
    I'm a new man now :)........ Well, there's the odd outburst here and there, not as bad as I was 18 months ago....
  • djed #68 4 years ago

    first no word from nintendo regarding a European version of "We're Fossil Diggers" and now this.

    Life...rearranged... time to die.
  • Mr_Brown #69 4 years ago

    Well obviously can't be such a AAA title if they aren't considering to publish it over. Perhaps they are not so confident about it after all and testing how well it does over there. With the statement like that, it must be dire. Preparing PS3 for a over hyped shite storm then.
  • el_pollo_diablo #70 4 years ago

    "Sony hates Europe"
    "Sony hates Europe"
    "Sony hates Europe"

    Solution: buy it from ebay rather than HMV.

    And stop whinging.
  • The-Bodybuilder #71 4 years ago

    >"why are 360 fanboys so annoyed, is it because 360 excusive ninja gaiden 2 turned out to be rubbish"

    I will, not at the fact you mentioned NG2, but over the fact that you spelt exclusive as "excusive".
  • The-Bodybuilder #72 4 years ago

    >"And where is Apololololologie? Did he die from Haze related stress disorder or something? "

    Nectar substance abuse, last I heard.
  • bioreit #73 4 years ago

    Stick it on PSN as a download - vastly reduced risk, then, as you haven't had to fork out for distribution and publishing and printing, etc.

    But as others have said, they surely let enough tat through that sells bugger all - why not give this a go?

    When LBP comes out and I pick up my PS3, I'd probably have picked this up and given it a whirl, seeing as it looked nice and different. Ah well, I'll just have to muddle through on the afore-mentioned freestyler, Warhawk, Motorstorm 2, Resistance 2 and Ratchet and Clank and just mebbe put the Afrika pennies aside for Killzone 2 (that last trailer I saw on EGTV looked quite frenetic - for fast pacing, I will forgive much).

    Shame though - roaming around on the savannah would have been fun. Could just go the murder route and kill all fauna African in Far Cry 2 instead...

    /off in a bloody, gib-ridden dream
  • zedzee #74 4 years ago

    @ Arbiter:

    I don't want my points "answered", they're historical facts. Not opinions with no basis, like yours.

    They do say that the truth hurts...
    Edited by 1 at 27/05/08 @ 23:55
  • RazorObsession #75 4 years ago

    I'm sooo fucking close to buying a PS3. I'm on the edge, man. I just upgraded to an HD sony bravia of 46" girth (compensating?), and i really need a Blu ray player. I just want more than a Blu ray player if you know what i mean.

    I cant say Afrika is affecting my decision much, though I would have liked to have gone hunting on the tundra, or molest cubs online now that someone mentioned it. (cubs aren't a euphemism for children are they?)

    I'm leaving my PS3 baiting days behind me, partially because it was so easy and just wasn't fun any more, partially because I draw inexorably closer to purchasing one. The 360 provides myself and house mates with ample online/split screen/system link gaming pleasure (although since December 2nd launch day, over multiple, and concurrent xboxes, I have suffered 5 cases of red raw ring and it has hurt since the first), and the novelty of the Wii has all but worn off, but its time to end the fanboyism for good and own all three.

    I just need MGS4 to be a 10/10 game, and the deal is done.
  • indotoonster #76 4 years ago

    Are all you console fanboys just jealous little runts who can't buy both consoles because daddy won't splash the dosh and thinks you'll do even less homework than you already do with just the one?
  • RazorObsession #77 4 years ago

    @Indotoonster

    Well the younger ones, most probably, but for the older ones theres a certain amount of brand loyalty for Sony, that right up until this generation was deserved, but it seems that Sony have under delivered on most of the promises, the ones that have actually turned up at least. the other promises, have still yet to materialise after many delays, if they materialise at all, as is evidenced by Afrika, all the while over charging for a machine that was supposed to absolutely trounce the opposition. Which lets be honest, has been sitting toward the other end of the trounced spectrum as far as side by side game performance goes.

    this has inevitably split the once loyal fanbase, some defecting to Xbox, if not already in the previous generation. its a bit like a having a cheating partner, as there is love involved, and boy do some fanboys love their consoles. some will forgive and forget no matter how bad they were stung time and time again, some will never forget and never forgive, and some just will not care. I'm guilty of a bit of both, forgiving MS for the RROD too many times, yet obstinately refusing to forgive Sony for the broken promises, despite so many PS2 hours of joy.there are of course the opposite fanboys who will love sony for all the words they speak and have yet to back up with actions, and yet are in total denial of the gaming pleasure that are found on the xbox 360.

    its such a blinkered view of the industry to only own one console, to be ill informed on the oppositions stance, and yet vehemently oppose all those with a different opinion to your own. it really is sad, but it will always be.
  • 3william56 #78 4 years ago

    Afrika heading to Asia not Europe.

    Ain't plate tectonics a b*tch, eh?

    / Points all the idiots on the thread to any Japanese chart, which is full to the gunwales with Japan only games never to see the light of a European sun, for every console (except the 360 of course), and wonders what the fuss is about.
  • bdgr #79 4 years ago

    will it be released in Africa tho? :)
  • Xerx3s #80 4 years ago

    "NG2 is far from rubbish - it's a wonderful game that has stupidly retained and magnified some of the same annoying flaws. It'd still wipe the floor with most action combat games."

    How do you know, did you play it?

    "i have them both"

    Ah so somehow mentioning that has any weight. Apparently you can't be a fanboy when you claim to own more than one machine.
  • spongebob #81 4 years ago

    PS3 is almost the new PSP when it comes to games.
  • Guv #82 4 years ago

    any Afrika for Afrika then?
  • UncleLou #83 4 years ago

    / Points all the idiots on the thread to any Japanese chart, which is full to the gunwales with Japan only games never to see the light of a European sun, for every console (except the 360 of course), and wonders what the fuss is about.


    Rather obvious difference. The obscure games filling the Japanese charts usually weren't used before to promote the respective platform worldwide.
  • the_genius #84 4 years ago

    The next person asking whether it's being released in Africa is a mong.

    @GamerG
    Care to explain to us what this has to do with Gabe Newell? I really can't wait to hear it.
  • Arnold__ #85 4 years ago

    Formerly from Africa myself, this game could have a lot of potential if they include the full experience, not just looking at pretty animals (not many left in the wild anyways) How about a GTA style Afrika focusing on tribe mentality, witchcraft, 10000000% inflation, murders, rapes, carjackings, corrupt politicians etc. with the odd 419 scam and illegal border crossing through croc invested waters thrown in for side missions. At the end of the game as everything comes crumbling down you can blame it all on the 'previous regime' and George Bush and Tony Blair. Now that is a system seller!!
  • Olemak #86 4 years ago

    This is a bit of a shame, really; I've been wathing this game with mild interest. I figured it would be a non-violent safari sim, where the point was to sneak up on animals and take pictures. Might also be a wildlife ranger/vet sim, of course. EIther way, I saw it as something fun to play with my little son, who loves animals.

    The point is - such a non-violent game might not be seen as fittingto european gamer's apetite for violence and destruction. That is probably why they won't release it here - while such a friendly, soothing escapist game has decent market in Japan, the western market is less... mature, I guess. Fit his is the reason for not launching here, it is really a shame. The "friendly, non-violent sim" genre wil never take of in europe unless we get some decent games for it.

    I liken this to all the elaborate japanese train-driver sims - very popular with the sarariman crowd in Japan, never even heard of in the west. That's a shame too, as my son loves trains and would probably enjoy playing something like that with me a lot. The colsest thing I've gotten to something like this, is driving around on the Subway in GTA IV, changing camera angles constantly. He really likes watching that. But I guess you could say that is a pretty narrow niche for a game to aim at...

    On the "you can just import" argument: not neccesarily so easy to play this game if all the text and speech is in japanase. And don't give me "just learn japanese, you lazy [insert expletive]". We're talking ultra-casual market here, after all.
  • Olemak #87 4 years ago

    Bloodkult:
    Hah, brilliant! I'll be getting that,, then! And finally a reason to get a 360, I guess :)

    Weird to see the PS3 loosing out on binging distinct japanese gaming genres to the west... this i s tricktly more "city-builder" sim than a pure train sim, but it still looks promising. mayby I'll build my home town, but the way it SHOULD be this time around...

  • ghearoid #88 4 years ago

    Damn, I was looking forward to this. Hopefully, it'll have an English language option or get released in the US. It kinda looks like a fun hi-res Pokemon Snap with Lion, Tigers and Bears, oh my!
  • Olemak #89 4 years ago

    Bloodkult:
    There also seems to be a japanese series called Railfan that I can import; more of a plain train driver sim than a city builder, which A-train seems to be. Both games have a strange appeal to me... thanks for the tip!
  • septimus #90 4 years ago

    It looks shit anyway; so what's the problem?

    -edit- and PS3 games are region free, so if you are that desperate just import it cheaper than you could get it here anyway. Jebus.
    Edited by 1 at 28/05/08 @ 12:03
  • bitesize #91 4 years ago

    if it isnt what conforms to the western template of a 'game' then chances are it won't sell and thus there's not a lot of point releasing it to a market that doesnt want it

    tell that to the sims + animal crossing - neither of which are the traditional definition of what a game is, yet both have sold a fuckload...
  • Les #92 4 years ago

    “Its ridiculous, if you want to have a bash try at least to stick to points that have a shred of relevence NOW (what Mr Sony mouthpiece said at E3 2006 is utterly irrelevant for example), and for heaven's sake learn that there is a difference between Sony and the developers of its software. Lair was Factor 5, Haze was Free Radical, etc, etc.”

    Arbiter, you’re trying to reason with people that act out of emotions. Just won’t work.

    Given that you still argue with plenty of people I’ve put on my (vast) ignore list ages ago, I guess you either have strong faith in humanity or you just love to argue even more than I do… ;)
  • boadle #93 3 years ago

    Sign the petition for this game to be released in English:

    [link url=http://www.peti tiononline.com/afrika/
    ]http://www.peti tiononline.com/afrika/
    [/link]

    Spread the word.