It appears that the cause of LittleBigPlanet’s hugely annoying delay is a song on the soundtrack containing, as Sony puts it, “two expressions found in the Qur’an”.

With religious sensitivities being at the forefront of world events at the moment you might have some sympathy with Sony’s decision to recall the game. The song in question comes from Mali’s Grammy-winning king of the Kora, Toumani Diabate, whose contribution to LBP’s soundtrack “Tapha Niang” contains two lines from the Qur’an which translate, roughly, as "Every soul shall have a taste of death" and "All that is on Earth will perish." And this has apparently angered Islamic hardliners, who see the mixing of text from the Qur’an with music as being deeply offensive.

Hmmm, a couple of things then. Where was the fuss and furore when this song was originally released back in 2006? And, er, isn’t Diabate himself a devout Muslim? By common account he even keeps a prayer room next to his office. With that in mind we’re presuming that he’s fully au fait with the dos and don’ts of mixing religious tracts with music. Then again we’re presuming that Sony, as a worldwide games publisher, would check its products for potentially offensive content prior to manufacture.

But whatever, it’s too late to worry about it all now. Sony has already recalled the game on a Global basis and is currently in the midst of repressing it with the offending track removed - it must have cost them millions! Meanwhile Sony has yet to confirm a new European release date, although market watchers are predicting November 7th. Let’s just wait, see and keep our collective digits crossed…