It's no secret; European gamers tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to release dates. However, BlazBlue's European release promises to reward them for their patience. European gamers will be getting bonus content such as a strategy guide and a copy of the game's soundtrack, but most notably, "new characters and moves" when they finally get to pick up the game early next year.

European fighter fans who haven't already imported Arc System Works' BlazBlue will be rewarded for their patience early next year, with exclusive characters and moves only available in the European release.

The release comes as a result of publisher PQube and Zen United, a consortium of Japanese and Asian developers targeting the European market. The title will be fully localized, with support for German, Italian, French, English, and Spanish, so just about everyone can be confused by the twisted storyline of this lovely little fighting game.

"The long running 2D fighting genre has seen a welcome boost in 2009 with updated versions of several franchises brought to Next Gen PS3 and 360 consoles" and Tomo Ohno, Head of Zen United, reported "BlazBlue reached number 1 in the Japanese arcades and already sales of the Japanese and US console versions have beaten forecasts".

The European PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 release will feature bonus content, including a strategy guide and the game's soundtrack, and the announcement makes mention of "new gameplay content not available anywhere, like new characters and moves."

No word on what exclusive characters Europe will be getting, but it's definitely nice to see folks on that side of the pond getting rewarded for their patience. And for those of you who already bought it, there is no shame in rebuying.

McClubbin via kotaku.com »