PlatinumGames’ Kickstarter campaign for The Wonderful 101 Remastered was a huge success soon after it launched, with its initial goal of US$50,000 quickly surpassed within half an hour of the campaign going live.
Unfortunately, an unexpected import fee of around £17 has UK backers upset as according to them, they were not made aware of the extra cost when backing the project. It seems only backers in the UK are affected by the extra import fee, due to PlatinumGames’ decision to ship to game over from Japan to the US, and then from there to the UK.
Not surprisingly, those in the UK are not happy with the news, seeing as how they could have easily picked up a physical copy of the game at retail stores in the UK for less, and will have to wait significantly longer than other players due to the customs issue.
In response to all this, PlatinumGames has released a new update addressing the issue, where it states that apparently, backers were already warned of the additional cost in the campaigns FAQ.
A number of our UK backers have informed us that they’ve had additional taxes applied when receiving their packages. Although possible methods of alleviating this were considered, the tariff duties for different countries can be very strict and we made sure to comply with all corresponding legal restrictions. We are sorry for the additional charges, but it is clearly stated in the FAQ on the Kickstarter page that all physical rewards are shipped out from the United States, and that any applicable VAT or regional tariffs would be paid by backers.
However, backers have refuted PlatinumGames’ claims, by stating that the information on additional charges was only added to the campaign’s FAQ section a week after the campaign launched. By that point, many backers would have already pledged their money and had very little reason to check the FAQ when they were not even aware extra fees exist.
Some backers are now asking for a refund from the campaign, and are even threatening to boycott future PlatinumGames’ products in the future. Though there are still supporters for the campaign, this whole incident has left a sour taste in the mouth of many fans, especially those in the UK.
Regardless of this incident,The Wonderful 101 Remastered is now available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.
Germaine is a fun-sized introvert who loves nothing better than sleeping in on rainy days. She can be found reading fanfiction and manga while still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. It’ll come eventually.
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