Crops fail - Rune Factory 4 localisation canceled for Europe

Marvelous AQL Europe giveth, and Marvelous AQL Europe taketh away.

Shortly after confirming the retail release of Senran Kagura Burst for the 3DS, Marvelous AQL Europe gave fans of the Rune Factory franchise a bit of bad news - Rune Factory 4 won't be making its way to Europe after all.

In a statement to Eurogamer, the publisher was understandably contrite.

"We regret to inform you that the European release of Rune Factory 4 for Nintendo 3DS has been cancelled. While MarvelousAQL has made every effort to secure the title's release for this territory, it is, unfortunately, not possible to do so at this time."

As as spinoff of the Harvest Moon franchise, Rune Factory was always a bit of a niche game - which is, perhaps, part of the reason why its developer Neverland declared bankruptcy last year.

The latest farming / RPG crossover currently enjoys a rating of 78 over on Metacritic which won't do much to assuage the disappointment that Rune Factory fans in Europe are likely feeling over this news.

Unless Nintendo does something about region locking, it looks like your only options in Europe are to hope that another publisher picks up the game or to buy a North American 3DS.