Konami requests Skullgirls be removed from Xbox Live and PSN

Fighting game Skullgirls may be removed from the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

During a Twitch stream, Skullgirls design director Mike Zaimont revealed Konami had requested the game be de-listed from PSN and Xbox Live with Sony and Microsoft.

Zaimont said co-publisher Autumn Games only found out about the request after the first parties had approved it. "That's amazingly annoying," he said.

Now, Autumn Games is frantically trying to submit a new version of the game to Sony Computer Entertainment America's QA department before it leaves for Christmas on the 17th December. If it fails QA, the game will likely disappear from PSN on that date.

Those who already own the game can continue to play offline, but it is unclear whether online play will be affected because, according to Sony, this has never happened before.

While there is a chance Skullgirls may survive on the US PSN, it looks likely it'll disappear from the European PSN, as Autumn Games doesn't have a quick fire route through Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's QA.

Autumn is working with MarvelousAQL to secure a replacement XBLA publishing slot, but it's unclear if the new build will push through Microsoft's testing department before the Christmas break.

Konami is yet to explain why it requested Skullgirls be de-listed from console, and it seems a strange decision considering the Japanese company makes money from each copy sold. Eurogamer has requested comment.

However, the decision may have something to do with last month's news that Autumn Games and Konami had "terminated their business relationship".

"As it's been alluded to in the past, things have not always been hunky-dory between Autumn Games and Konami," Lab Zero Games' Peter Bartholow wrote on Skullgirls' IndieGoGo page at the time.

"Around the time of the last update, it became clear that it would not be possible to proceed with the new patches as long as Konami was involved with Skullgirls.

"So, as of today, Autumn and Konami have terminated their business relationship, allowing us to move forward with the PS3 and Xbox 360 patch in a more timely and cost-effective manner."

In a previous update on the Skullgirls IndieGoGo page, Bartholow hinted at the trouble the developer has had working with Konami on patches.

"We need Konami to help us out some with some things in order to do some Microsoft TRC checks, and thus far they have been completely unresponsive," he wrote in a post published a month ago. "Feel free to use this information however you see fit."

There is a silver lining. If the new version passes QA, it will release with the latest console patches this year.