Retail copies of Balan Wonderworld have been discontinued. The 2021 3D platformer by Square Enix released to poor critical and commercial reception. As a result, Square Enix has seemingly decided to cease production of any further retail copies. Balan Wonderworld is listed as out of stock across the majority of retailers, with low stock availability for select platforms at a heavily discounted price from $4.99 to $19.99 at GameStop. Balan Wonderworld will also be leaving PlayStation’s Premium services May 16th.
Following poor critical reception, Balan Wonderworld allegedly sold roughly 2,000 copies in Japan during the opening week and missed the top 30 at retail. Nintendo Life reported the title did not reach the top 40 in the UK charts across all platforms. The Steam listing received a low turnout for reviews during its release as well. Square Enix ultimately failed to include Balan Wonderworld in their fiscal report.
Yuji Naka directed the title with Naoto Ohshima producing. There were many issues during the development of Balan Wonderworld. Yuji Naka had resigned from Square Enix shortly after the title had been released and revealed he had been removed from the project six months before release, citing issues with development. Furthermore, Naka has accused Square Enix and Arzest of not caring about consumers claiming they did not value games or game fans. Since then, Naka has announced he is considering retirement.
Balan Wonderworld is still available to purchase digitally across all platforms for those who cannot locate a retail copy. The digital version originally released at $59.99 and is currently discounted to a much lesser extent than the retail release at $39.99 across all platforms.
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