Stellar Blade PS5 Dev Thanks Fans for 'Passion' Following Censorship Controversy

Hopefully they do change it back.

@thefourfoldroot1 Out of curiosity what else did they censor? I thought it was just the two outfits and something about less blood.

They have both the assets...why not just give us an option to choose either or, at the very least?

"This is what they always intended"

So what, was Eve dressed even more skimpily during development just for the devs enjoyment or something?

Great thing about Eve is that she looks like the typical girl next door. Although, I live next to a brothel.

Must say the mild censoring didn't affect my enjoyment of this game at all. Wouldn't have even noticed it if it wasn't for all this fuss..

Just started playing it yesterday and I really enjoyed it despite being s*** at the demo 😂 Shift Up have really aced the shift up from mobile gaming to AAA!

@thefourfoldroot1 thanks for saying exactly what i was just about to say. Its not like the info is even hard to come across. PS once again choosing what to leave out instead or reporting on all the facts.

@Retron I haven't seen anything about the graffiti change. That's hilarious! Did they change the R to an A? 😂 but also annoying that these post-release changes are happening. As well as public bug-testing are we also getting a public censorship phase now 🤔

Edit: Googled the original "HARD R" and the unfortunate placement gave me a good giggle.

@Retron Thanks!

"If it's not a big deal, they won't care if it's changed back to how it is on the disc"

I think that's a great point. Would be funny if there is outrage if they uncensor it.

@ClockDownRMe You shouldn't have a problem with them changing it back then.

Why not just do what COD does and have an option when you start that let's you play a censored or uncensored version?

I’m really liking the game but eve’s head would be disappointing for a secondary character in a ps2 game, so out of place even standing next to lily’s wonk head.

@Zenos
Numerous outfits, top and bottom. You wouldn’t even know the extent of the censorship to even the one outfit they picture because they have cropped it to only show the top half and don’t show the bottom or back (which is what you are seeing 95% of the time). You can kind of see the effect on the bottom if you look low on the picture, but only to the less interesting point lol.
And yes, the level of blood and blood splatter on Eve. Although some claim this was to “improve performance”, so I’m leaving that out as it’s debatable. That the devs where happy with the more revealing designs during the entire development phase, put a lot of work into them, and then had to change a load at release is not debatable however, at least not to anyone who has been paying attention to Sony strong-arming these last 6 years, or this devs general output.

@Loamy They changed Hard to Crime.

Would be nice if they change the costums back to uncensored.

@thefourfoldroot1 Interesting. So if it's happening to multiple outfits then the argument that it's not censorship because they are 'finalised designs ' goes right out the window.

@Balie3000
I envy you, knowing I’m continuously being treated like a child would seriously impact my enjoyment on a second to second basis. Regardless of the extent or type of censorship. I’m the same with movies and increasingly, I’m sad to say, books.

@Zenos
Not really, technically they could have been finalising all the designs at once and decided on a policy change on all the outfits. That’s extremely questionable though, given, you know, the game. And their other games. And some other outfits…also, “finalising designs” is kind of a parry. They don’t say what caused them to finalise designs to cover Eve up top and bottom (*cough, Sony, *cough).

@thefourfoldroot1 Good point. Though if it turns out there was a policy change and it turns out it was due to pressure from Sony then wouldn't that qualify as a form of censorship?

The best part of this whole situation is how Shift Up is taking it.

Fans showing love to the game buying it and with details as simple as giving it a good grade on metacritic give leverage to the developer to push back those changes (it's still unclear if this was asked by Sony).

So the players and the developer showing class in this situation. The only people b*tching about it is people who weren't going to buy the game anyway lol.

@Zenos
Yes, yes it would. Although there is not really any doubt about that to anyone who knows this dev’s output, and Sony’s influence (which includes not allowing devs to talk out about Sonys censorship policy, nor do they publish it publicly).

@LifeGirl ironic tbh.

Many devs and publishers seem to have lost their compass in regards of moral and taste. There’s no other explanation for me for this „show nipples, hide nipples, show nipples, …“ back and forth.
Dear devs and publishers, make early and clear decisions and stick to them, instead of reacting on the loudest voices on social media!

Aside from the fact the controversy is entirely ginned up by bad actors and waste of absolutely everyone's time, I don't think saying “stay tuned for updates” and thanking players for their “passion and feedback” is a tacit approval or even acknowledgement of the cringe inducing petition currently being run by some of the worst people in the space.

@Kraaatos Funny from someone called 'Kratos'. So seeing Kratos' naked chest is fine, but seeing a woman who is covered is bad?

@LordAinsley Yeah, tendentious reading is doing a lot of heavy lifing here, and we still don't know the full story behind the "original" changes or how it will be resolved.

I do think the developer being preassured to change a costume from their intended vision would be a terrible precedent. Imagine if the reverse had been true: moral crusaders preassuring the game designer into covering up their characters.

Amuses me, seeing game companies feeding off culture wars like vampires.

Create a little unnecessary controversy, which is now extremely easy to do, because - the internet is what it is...

Let it blow up, enjoy the period of conjecture and extra free exposure, and then go and roll back the "specific issue causing thing" in the game to what was originally intended in the first place, and to huge fanfare.

I don't particularly have a horse in this race, but the number of people being played is quite impressive.

@LordAinsley
They're the main audience for the game though.

@dellyrascal my thoughts exactly. And as soon as a game blows up, it sells itself.

@Tobiaku Whats the meaning of the word hard then? In the context and why does that even matter if thry changed hard to crime?

Have people worked out that this whole thing was a fake manufactured Controversy(in order to generate publicity) by the devs yet, or are we still all arguing about this nonsense?

I still don't know if this is Sony's doing, the fact there's games with full on nudity, bear sex and a dong slider on Playstation and even from it's first party studio's there's some nudity, I just don't understand why Sony would want this game censored especially as it's age rated 18. I've also played a lot of JRPG's and can say there's way more revealing outfits/swimsuits in some games than what's in Stellar Blade, and those games have a lower age rating.

So what's makes Stellar Blade so different from those JRPG's, or games like TLOU 2 and Cyberpunk with nudity and sex? Considering this we can't just rush and pin the blame on Sony and have to trust Shift Up on that it was because of their artistic choices.

@Flaming_Kaiser "Hard R" is the N-word slur written out fully with the "er" ending. The most offensive word used against anyone with a darker skintone. Typically, the word you hear among black and African descents use in public and in music ends in the letter "a". This version is a form of reclaiming the offensive word to be used as a term of endearment within their circle. Like how you'll hear girls sometimes refer to themselves as the b word in an endearing way.

To use the "hard r" spelling has long been deemed socially unacceptable here, the only acceptable fashion is for educational reasons referencing an earlier time in media. So it's referencing to full spelling of the word. Only racists use the word, typically in a fashion of wanting us not alive. I'm mixed, so I've had to "rise above" being called the hard-r numerous times and will continue to do so for as long as racists are around.

Anyways, saying that though.. I do think Crime is a weird choice for replacement. Could've kept Hard and replaced the letter with something else. Or even be cheeky and call it "Soft R".

@UltimateOtaku91
I agree that I do actually think this was more a creative decision than censorship. There are still plenty of other skimpy outfits available in the game after all and the director has been pretty upfront about the game leading up to this point.

However, even with that probably being the case, I think most people are more upset that it seems very random what games get censored and what games do not. Sony did kind of bring this heat on themselves really ever since some devs from Japan came out and said Sony is starting to crank up the censorship a few years ago. (I can't remember the exact wording but I remember reading about it)

That's why I think it would be best if censorship just wasn't a thing. It just complicates things for no real reason, even when it likely didn't actually take place like with Stellar Blade.

@InsaneWade appreciate the education. I had seen that Hard R had been changed for racial reasons but wasnt aware of the meaning of it. Appreciate your explanation.

@InsaneWade Thanks for the information never knew that but why are people mad that they replaced it?

If you know what it means and you still want it in the game and especially if you are in the US you are clearly a racist.

For me i didnt care that they removed it because i sidnt everything know the meaning and now with meaning clear to me now its even better they removed it.

Only the people that are racists would complain about it and hide behind censorship thats my opinion.

@Yorozayu My guess would be that Stellar Blade is a Sony published game so is more directly associated with them. The other two games are fully third party so may not be held to the same standard internally. The good thing is it doesn't seem like all the censorship controversy doesn't seem to have harmed the game sales wise, and may have even given it a slight boost. Although I wonder if the sales of the physical version will be a bit higher than usual lol.
As for reverting the changes, I quite like the design on the new version so would prefer that they add the original design back in so that there is a choice between the two designs rather than just change it back.

@Kidfunkadelic83 PS never do this.. you take it back right now infidel 🤣.

This was clearly a clever bit of marketing on the part of the developer. I wouldn't be surprised if they had actually started the petition themselves.

But anyone who signed it as a genuine complaint really needs to get out more.

You were the last hope for gamers

@ATaco That excuse is nonsense, because the uncensored outfits are available on the physical version of the game.

@Yorozayu I probably should have said in my original reply that I don't actually think this is some sort of Sony mandated censorship but was just theorising as to the reasoning why there would be a difference if it was to be. I completely agree that using TLOU part 2 as an example doesn't make sense that it was a Sony decision, in addition to the sex scenes there is also a lot of very realistic brutality in TLOU part 2 that wouldn't make sense that Sony would mandate censorship a bit of blood. My character in Helldivers 2 looks like he is covered in strawberry jam after a game so they don't seem to have much issues with a bit of blood.

[Removed - for any number of reasons] 😉

Once again, I am amazed that nobody has anything to say about the story, the characters, the narrative, the design level, the photography, the tone palette, etc... From journal articles to comments section, it's like this game is only about unlocking costumes to dress your doll.

I've never seen so many removed comments on a post before lmao

I absolutely love these developers.

Not only do they create the game they want, they actively listen and communicate with the fanbase.

@GymratAmarillo it was 100% sony, look at senran kaguara and what they did to that. Just look at nikke, ain't no way shift up is censoring anything unless pressured by prudes

Those fans noticed everything.😀.haha.word up son

@guestwork hit the nail on the head. Pick which you prefer, and everyone is happy.

All I know is, I haven't changed EVE's outfit once - I don't even craft them!

Cosmetics in games are such a weird thing, to me. How many man-hours were wasted on multiple types of pixel clothes for pixel people?

Perhaps game development would cheaper if stuff like this wasn't included?

I hope they put the originals back in, but I also hope there's an option to choose the new one. I actually prefer the costume on the right, but I dislike in principle what they are doing and how abnormal the logic is.

@Flaming_Kaiser I just answered someone about how the graffitti was changed. Was probably changed because of the reason the other guy replying to you said.

It's amusing seeing people trying to portray this as people being obsessed with how they "dress up their doll." I don't really care about cosmetic options in games, and to be honest, I find the uncensored fan-service style outfits pretty cheesy. But the real issue here goes beyond cosmetic options, and I think everyone understands that, whether they'll admit it or not.

There's a faction within gaming who think it's their right to determine what everyone else gets to enjoy. They've been obsessed for months with slamming Stellar Blade since it appeared not to cater to the new PC standard for how women in games should be portrayed. And normal people are completely fed up with hearing from them. Almost every game bends over backwards to cater to their ways of thinking, and they don't want to allow any exceptions--which is not only wrongheaded, it's obnoxious.

@Yorozayu "Still not as bad as seeing someone get boiled alive though"

What game was that?

@Troubbble My thoughts exactly. If they do revert costumes back then watch the outcry from the other side.

People are already doing damage control and saying that if they do change it back that it definitely wasn't due to the petition or the youtubers that helped draw attention to it that they like to call grifters.

People crying ‘CENSORSHIP!!!’ in this game are a laugh. Have they not noticed the equippable skin suit or jiggling breasts? Or what about how many of her outfits are basically body paint, for all intents and purposes? And some of those outfits even have a line going through her crotch to make it even MORE suggestive. I hardly think censorship was on anyone’s mind when they designed and created this game. And besides, if they were going to censor this game, a small amount of cleavage on a bathing suit would have been the very LAST place I would think they would start.

@Zenos "Still not as bad as seeing someone get boiled alive though"

Seeing someone pushed headfirst into a deep fat fryer comes close though!

(Spooks, series one)

If I was them I would sell the outfit as DLC for $1.

I’m not convinced this was censorship and unfortunately there’s a no way to prove it isn’t. This is conspiracy theory territory.

That said, I’m not convinced people really care that much about this specific outfit. They’re taking up valuable time and distracting from an otherwise very successful launch of a new IP. So if they care so much they can just pay $1 and get it and we can stop talking about it and the company gets compensated for their work.

I’m not even confident most people complaining own the game. Like Push Square just wants the engagement and sweet ad revenue. 💰

@Tobiaku Solid reason i applaud it anyone who has a issue with something like that and knowing what it stands for probably is a racist Acting like its censorship but knowing damn well that the developers dont want to be associated with something like that.

I hope they patch it down. Game is so hard to play with a constant boner.

To me, there is a fundamental difference between an artist or the publisher of an artist SELF-censoring their work, especially commercial art (which video games mostly are) or a government entity telling me what I can and cannot see.

If we want to complain about censorship let's start with what passes as an impartial newscast from any news provider, not these bits of cloth in a still very adult-looking game.

This crap is making gamers look like what everyone already thinks we are, misogynistic incels. I have been saying this since the beginning, but if we acted chill about this game's content nobody would have given a crap, but the community had to Harald this release as a "taking back games from wokeness" moment.

If everyone is so concerned about an artist's vision being taken away with censorship, you should be just as ready to defend the artist's vision for games like Forspoken, Horizon and The Last of Us.

@SolarSailor Shhh! You can't discuss moderation!! 😂

@MikeOrator Exactly this.

I still dont get it. Regardless of whatever censorship you do to the ooutfits, theyre still raunchy and provocative anyway. And why censor blood splatter when the monsters are still getting bisected with gallons of blood splurting out of their bodies anyway?

the inc- I mean passionate fans won! congrats to those erm…. Unique individuals for their petition over something as important as…. checks notes digital cleavage!

@MikeOrator False equivalence. The 'vision' of Last of Us 2 and Forspoken were not affected and were never in any danger of that happening.

@MikeOrator when you see the response to this. And how Stellar Blade has the highest user score of any PS game. It’s easy to see who the people are who get caught up in the “culture wars” they complain about. When a game like Horizon: Forbidden West doesn’t have a half baked beauty queen as the female lead, they go online and trash the game’s user scores. Then they get the near naked, robotic beauty queen and they hail it as the best game ever.

Oddly enough, the people who can play Horizon: Forbidden West and Stellar Blade and not turn the games into political statements, don’t get online to flood user scores to fit their agenda. It’s just the weirdest thing to prioritize.

Well I can safely say that the Holiday Rabbit suit has definitely been censored as I bought both the digital and disc release for <ahem> posterity, but the Moutan Peony outfit has the tights on it by default, so you have to imagine that the disc version of the game DOES contain the originally intended versions of the outfits, otherwise why would they be on the unpatched disc release?

I call censorship after the fact, which of course sucks because it's just a bit of extra skin on a character model as opposed to anything egregiously inappropriate or sinister in an 18 rated game... 🤨

The English translation is a little off from the original Korean. The more complete translation is:

"We'd like to thank our fans for participating in our publicity stunt to help our social marketing efforts go viral. We always wanted to show Eve clothed in a camisole like a private preparatory high school girl, but "accidentally" launched our game with a completely rendered and animated half open bathrobe before correcting this mistake that happened entirely by accident, on launch day, and was not in any way intended to manipulate the customers we heavily marketed semi-pron to to create a tempest of online discourse, boosting our search rankings 1900%. As a primarily mobile developer, we embrace the concept that the only thing better than free labor, is labor that pays us to participate."

Gooners gonna goon LOL

@Zenos

I don't know what "false equivalence" means but I can assume it's some sort of way to deflect what is being said to minimize what everyone knows is being said.

PS. I know what it means. In this case, it's not though. People trashed the games because of how the female main characters were being represented in the game with their physical looks and characterization.

@MikeOrator They trashed the games yes. They didn't call for it to be censored.

@Zenos

...but they did run to Metacritic to drag down a score to diminish the vision of the artist. So in essence these people were trying to censor the aforementioned games. Or at least try to silence the creators voice

@MikeOrator That's a stretch

@GamingFan4Lyf My favorite that goes the opposite direction is FFXVI. "5 years later...." and nobody has changed their clothes...

@Zenos

maybe...lol...

My point was more about defending an artist's vision than the censorship anyway. If we defend the fan service as important to the artist's vision of Stellar Blade then we need to defend the realistic character models in other games as well. If we don't then it is just about looking at T&A and not about the "art".

@MikeOrator Fair enough

@NEStalgia Ah ah you nailed it. But I would have summarized with "like all the mobile games we produce, you can collect sexy costumes to dress a doll but we innovated by locking the process behind an action game rather than just the usual gatcha thing "

Tbh, I was more disappointed by the blood and gore being toned down. Censorship sucks but it's still a pretty and solid game. 8/10.

Just add it in NG plus.

I have the disc so I guess I could just uninstall it

But I settled into Planet Diving (2nd) - Simple jet black and the red glow look amazing in HDR.

I would rather they release an Enya themed suit.

Lure them in with titties, take away some of the titties, keep em hungry for titties. Consecutive storms in DD cups. Much reporting. Marketing genius.

Just keep both, there's nothing wrong with having options.

@get2sammyb
Hi. After returning from my temporary ban I have reflected and decided I owe you an apology for some rather childish conspiracy theories I’ve thoughtlessly associated with you on a number of articles. It was needless, and not reflective of my usual rational self. Embarrassing really.

Here, for example, I fully accept that you were simply uninformed about the extent of the censorship, or did not consider the list relevant to the general discussion. To suggest that you deliberately used a cropped image to try to mislead or cause controversy is stupid, and even were that the case (which it wasn’t) that would be a decision for the editor, not you.

Similarly with your New VR releases article. To suggest you deliberately left off many dozens of games to try to ensure PSVR2 failure is real tin hat stuff and really stupid of me. And, again, although that article clearly has its problems, it would be down to the editor to decide on its quality. Not me or even you.

So, again, many apologies for these examples of idiocy. I will try to do better.