This weekend, fans and Square Enix employees should be celebrating their mech arcade gaming tournament for Starwing Paradox in Japan. However, executives have come forward to announce the tournaments in Tokyo, Yokohama, Nagoya, and Fukuoka have officially been canceled due to death threats sent to the developer and publisher.
Originally reported by Kotaku, Square Enix released an official statement earlier today explaining the cancellation. The management team of Starwing Paradox had received a handful of death threats directed toward them. The team reported the threats to police, but in light of recent events, they decided to cancel all of their tournaments for the coming weekend.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time Square Enix has received threats of this sort. Earlier this month, a man threatened to mimic the tragic arson of Kyoto Animation because he was upset over one of Square Enix’s mobile games. Kenichi Hiratsuka was later found and arrested for the arson threat.
Earlier this year, a man threatened to kill employees over unsatisfying gacha, which are a lot like loot boxes, after spending over $1,000 in-game. Even before that, another unidentified subject sent over thirty emails with the Japanese word for “kill” to the development team.
Starwing Paradox is a popular, mecha arcade game in Japan where two teams of eight players pilot giant mechs in hopes of destroying the other team’s base. The game is wildly popular due to its animated sequences done by Sunrise, an anime studio most well-known for their work on Gundam.
Square Enix was more than apologetic to fans who were eagerly awaiting to see the now-canceled gaming tournaments, and there is no official word yet as to whether or not any other tournaments will be rescheduled in the future.
The Nerd Stash will continue to cover this story as more information emerges.
