Funny I have to ask this simple question but I just realized that the Neptunia series was available through GoG. I could have buy it a long time ago on Steam but I have told to myself many times for many game to be patience and wait until is available at my favorite digital store which happens to be GoG.

To my surprise, I can not find the game on the Japanese Games Sale that is taking place right now. Weird... maybe is not that popular among GoG users. I'll use the search instead... NOTHING! I kinda use to these behavior on Steam where many Japanese games are not available in Japan or if they are, the cost is just ridiculous and does not match the rest of the countries/currency. When this happens, I just use google and investigate farther. Yup, I can see them but when I click on the links, the page rests and takes me to the store "front" page. Even google does not show the cache option.

This might not be the first time GoG has done something like this but it is the first time I see it and this worries me, A LOT! It is one of those pesky tactics (along with censorship happening here in Japan or Australia, Germany and a few others) certain companies decide to take and it definitely hurts gamers as a whole. Games that block sales on selected countries should not have a space in GoG, the same as if a publisher wishes to sell its games with damn DRM. That's what makes GoG special and separates itself from the rest. Even at the expense of paying the GoG tax (many games have better discounts on Steam) and not being able to convert from US dollar to yen, which makes the games in Japan even more expensive.

If GoG wants to stay relevant, it needs to go the extra mile, specially now that Epic is becoming a worthy option due to its time exclusives, free games and more important, the lower cut they get compared to the rest of the stores, 14% vs. 30%

So, will the series ever be available in Japan? And to extend the question even farther, will GoG allow companies now to block games according to countries???

As someone from another country that has stupid censorship/blocks in place, I feel your pain. :(

Unfortunately I don't have any answers for you as to why it's unavailable in Japan but isn't a problem on Steam (others might know more about it). But I will say, Idea Factory doesn't have the best reputation for treating their GOG customers kindly. See the recent threads about missing DLC that is on Steam but not here, also the fact it costs more at full price here, too.

You might find this thread of interest: Regional Locked Games on GOG

Honestly, I would rather GOG continue to as they have been so far: abide by the stupid calls for geoblocking to certain countries, but not stopping game codes from being gifted. I hope that with time and pressure from both GOG and citizens of affected countries, laws can be made about this kind of thing.

Until then, the rest of the international GOG community should not have to suffer because of one or more countries/publishers/whatever having ridiculous attitudes. I would cry if the rest of the world had to live with Australia's censorship. >_<

I appreciate the link to the region locked games. Didn't even know GoG's policy was ok with certain publishers misbehavior. Hope that changes in the future but I doubt it.

I know many Japanese companies, mostly big corporations but some smaller ones as well, like to be very protective of their products and try to keep it console exclusive to avoid cannibalizing it with PC sales although looks like things are changing as of lately.

I try to avoid buying games on Steam for good reasons (unless certain indies are only available there) and I won't fall for Neptunia's franchise either. If Idea Factory doesn't change its mind I guess they won't see a single yen from me, not that they give a damn about it.

Ohhhh! That explains a lot! Though not in Neptunia's case, obviously... Sigh, Idea Factory, you make it hard to throw money at you. >_<

Oh, and there are a few workarounds, if you really want to get Neptunia but don't want to pay IF anything:
GOG - try and nab it through a community giveaway, or make a trade.
Steam - wait for it to go on sale through Humble Bundle, and set the amount for the devs to $0. Put all the money towards your favourite charity (and/or tip Humble), bam. No money for IF and you get your game. :P

But yeah, voting with your money is always a good idea. Even better if you can email IF directly and tell them why, hopefully it will make them think a little. =_=

Never give up hope for change though! Otherwise they win by default. *fistpump*