On January 13 , 2011 the PlayStation Blog confirmed that the game would be released in Europe on 16 March 2011 and in North America on 12 April 2011 . The game was initially scheduled to be released in New Zealand on March 16 , 2011 but following a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in the country in February , the game release was delayed indefinitely . Similarly , the game 's release in Japan was also delayed indefinitely after an earthquake and tsunami struck the country on 10 March 2011 – the game 's originally scheduled release date . It was later confirmed its cancellation by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan three months later , with no reason given at the time . Sony Computer Entertainment Europe also delayed the game 's release in the UK , stating in relation the disaster in Japan , " We are very conscious of the parallels between these events and the underlying theme in '' MotorStorm '' and are doing everything we can to be as sensitive as possible to the situation . " In Australia , the game was launched as scheduled on 17 March , but Sony confirmed the company would halt any further shipments and pull all advertising campaigns for the game
earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
MotorStorm: Apocalypse