‘Lollipop Chainsaw’ is getting a remake due to soundtrack licensing issues

Producer Yoshimi Yasuda has explained that Lollipop Chainsaw is getting a remake, rather than a remaster, due to issues licensing the original soundtrack.

In a statement shared via Twitter, Yasuda explains that 16 tracks that made up Lollipop Chainsaw’s soundtrack weren’t able to be licensed again. Those tracks “were a great part of the original game’s feel, so we are instead aiming for a remake that’s as close as possible to a remaster.”

The original Lollipop Chainsaw featured tracks from the likes of Sleigh Bells, Dragonforce, The Human League and Joan Jett.

“The primary goal of the Lollipop Chainsaw Remake project is to make it so players who wish to play Lollipop Chainsaw can do so easily, not to make a new Lollipop Chainsaw,” explained Yasuda. “Of course, the ideal thing to do would be to make a remastered version of the original game, changing nothing,” however due to the issues over music, they were unable to do that.

“Instead, we are aiming for a remake that is as close to a remaster as possible.”

He goes on to confirm that “the story will not be changed in the remake” but there’s a question mark over censorship and what the game will be able to get away with. “We have not yet discussed the issue with the platform holders but we intend to negotiate with them to make it so that the game can be as close to the original as possible,” he said.

Earlier this month, both co-writer James Gunn and creative director Suda51 took to Twitter to confirm they’re not involved in the Lollipop Chainsaw remake.

“I neither endorse nor condemn it,” said Gunn. “I simply don’t know anything about it. But as articles are starting to slap our names on there, I think it’s important to make clear no one ever approached us about it.”

In other news, Nintendo Japan has issued an update on the company’s corporate social responsibility, which recognises same-sex marriages.

It comes weeks after Japanese courts upheld a national ban on same-sex marriages.