The Callisto Protocol Cancels Japanese Release After Refusing to Censor Violence

Good on the developer. In a global marketplace sometimes you have to import things to circumnavigate local censorship laws. A shame for the Japanese gamers there, but these ridiculous laws exist everywhere, from Japan to Australia to Germany video game censorship is still sadly far too high.

@thefourfoldroot1 Wait a sec, what does Sony have to do with this story?

For anyone interested, this is the reason why dismemberment is basically not allowed in JP Games:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_child_murders

Resident Evil Games are also always cut and so was Rage 2 and Death Space

Gutted for the Japanese gamers out there… but if it’s anything like the region system on PS4, they’d still be able to buy and play a copy from another region at least.

@pip_muzz Germany hasnt banned Games for quite a while now. The USK even allows Na*i Symbols in Wolfenstein now

First we hear God of War Ragnarok will be more brutal and now this. Will have to get it now as I loved Dead Space 1 & 2.

Would be a top move to put the Japanese sub/dub out as a download so they can still import it

@naruball
I did explain for you, but someone at Pushsquare has a keen sense of a irony 🤷‍♂️ sorry

Let’s try again with no mention of any platform holder and see if it’s allowed:

I have no problem with devs/publishers refusing to compromise their work, I actually respect it. I wish more devs, whether that be western like this, or those in Japans’ home market (crucially), would stick to their guns. But of course I am aware that Japanese devs losing the western market is a much bigger deal than a western dev losing the Japanese market.

Does the western version have Japanese subtitles? If so then Japanese players could always import the game or get the Asian version from their neighbours.

@thefourfoldroot1 I see. Sorry to hear that.

A true shame for the Japanese players out there but I tip my cap to the devs for sticking to their guns. Hopefully the players interested in Japan can import a copy.

Censorship has never and will never make sense to me.

Hahahaha, well this rather throws a spanner in the works of those on here who love to cry about Japanese games being censored. Who would have thought

[Removed - comment did not pass the CERO rating]

Options vs Vision.

I can name a million examples of censorship over the years, where subsequent games have gone further. But perhaps it's more of a context thing. The question remains now that what is "too far"? At what point do the creators stop pushing the envelope, not out of fear of censorship, but rather that they even disgust or outrage themselves?

@nessisonett
I don’t see how, two wrongs don’t make a right.

Well, well, well.. how the turntables 😂😂

Well, on one hand, good for Striking Distance to stick to their principles and stand behind the product they created in a ‘take it or leave it’ fashion. On the other hand, I’m not sure taking a stand for unrepentant gore and violence is a hill I’d want to die on so-to-speak (no pun intended).

Regardless, I’m really looking forward to playing this myself.

Wether Sony tones down sexy time fun time here, or CERO tones down gory time fun time in Japan, can we agree that censorship and stripping away choice over some sort of misplaced moral high ground sucks?

It does not really matter. Every half-intelligent person in Japan is smart enough to make a sub account and buy it digitally from somewhere else. And most of them have basic english knowledge to understand what little text there might be in a horror game. Altough I really doubt there is no asian version with at least a subtitle they understand.

But I dont really care either way, not a horror guy..

Btw what's with all the censored comments? Are they really that bad xD

Can't have tiddies in the west, can't have gore in the east. Why not just put a mature only stamp on it and let people decide what they want to play. Censorship sucks.

Is Last of Us 2 censored in Japan?

@Sakisa
I wish we could all agree precisely that.

@Greifchen yea. I know this because my mate was complaining that he didn’t get to see the sex scene on his Japanese copy (I told him he wasn’t missing much…)

Much like when this happens in reverse, I respect the decision.

Feel bad for the Japanese players that are looking forward to the game.

For a country that has guro manga and movies this seems like a weird double standard.

@IonMagi interesting and disturbing. Odd that dude gets to release an autobiography, recounting the murders in detail apparently, but regular Joe's can't play Callisto Protocol.

Does make me feel a little better to know that reactionary conservatives live in other countries besides just the US. Or maybe now I feel worse lol.

Sucks for Japanese players but good for the Devs for not censoring themselves.

Is this a legal reason or? Because I know you seem to be able to put almost whatever on PC in Japan. They get crazy with some visual novel on PC. Disgustingly so.

@nessisonett How though we hate games being censored that hasn't changed. We hate when Sony censor games, we hate when Japan censor them and we would hate if Xi Jinping received god powers and censored everything everywhere 🤷

Japan is strict on violence, the USA gets picky when it comes to sex and the list goes on. Every country is free to create their own rules and as a developer you play by those rules or skip the country, no problem.

@zupertramp Issei Sagawa is a infamous JP Cannibal who killed (and ate) a Woman and only had to sit 15 months in a Psychatric hospital lol. Hes was/is treated more like a Popstar in Japan and became a succesful Author and Writer for Magazies. So yeah, Japans treatment with certain criminals is very strange

Glad they stood their ground. Also games are region free so japanese gamers can still import.

@nessisonett Not really. Japanese versions of hyperviolent Western AAA games are censored all the time. Hell, hyperviolent Japanese series like Resident Evil are censored in Japan as well.

Besides, Japan being unreasonable about violence doesn't justify Australia being insane about sex and nudity, or Sony refusing to platform games that otherwise pass muster with the biggest Western ratings boards.

@Jaz007, I imagine games don't have to have a CERO rating to release on PC (being a completely open platform and all), which is why, apparently, worse stuff is allowed. I imagine a lot of games without an ESRB rating are released on PC here in the US.

However PlayStation (& the other console platforms) won't host a game if it hasn't been rated by the local ratings board (CERO in this case, who is refusing to rate it).

Generally speaking, awareness, education and discussion are far more effective tools when dealing with content concerns than the counter productive creation of forbidden fruit that outright censorship perpetuates. Surely there are specific instances in which censorship is an effective means of protection, I’m just not entirely convinced this is it. But then, I have no finger on the pulse of Japanese culture…

So, the West censors japanese games and Japan censors western games, lol.

@Jaz007

Japan is very strict on violence but they have no issue with nudity. Basically the exact opposite of NA.

Replace all graphic killings in the game with tentacle porn. Problem solved 🐙🇯🇵🐙

Having lived in Japan for a long time, I'm still baffled by the cultural differences. They are very sensitive to violent imagery but are super lenient when it comes to nudity. In America its reversed. Also the concept of swearing doesn't really exist in Japanese so language is never an issue. I wish that was the case here. Can't tell you how many awesome-looking games I've skipped because of the 'strong language' tag. Bugs the heck outta me.

Good for the devs don't compromise your product!

Dont tone down sh🤔t gtfoh with that crap japan.you have gory games in Japan and you telling a western developer to ease up on the violence.get out of here with that crap.the callisto protocol will be a instant classic.its crazy some countries acting like theyre sh🤔t doesn stink.when a lot of them have gory movies.and extremely gore violence news etc.word up son

Imagine if rockstar make a new manhunt game.that game would have not have been play in a lot of countries.word up son

@Tielo
Sure, as long as it’s a democratically elected government rather than a platform holder setting the rules, I won’t kick up much of a fuss. Unfortunately that’s rarely the case these days.

lol should be up to the person me nope give me the game the way its meant to be played the gorier the better for these type games! they tried that with mortal kombat 1 and carmagedden wasnt the blood green and changed the poeple to zombies 🤣😂

It makes sense for them to do that for this game, as the visuals, violent combat and deaths is really all this game is going to amount to. The rest is just overtly linear corridor walking to the next bit of its one trick pony.

Meh, consumers have made Japan one of the most monotone markets regardless. This is simply one more added filter.

Their projected sales in Japan are probably irrelevant. Like most 3rd party games.

Gasp, some legitimate censorship and Sony's not the one behind it. Color me not surprised.

@KundaliniRising333

I mean that’s technically Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space as well and both are considered two of the greatest horror games ever made.

@KundaliniRising333
? Of course they are.

japan has excessiviely violent FILMS and the term "extreme cinema" was coined with the likes of ichi the killer etc. pushing the boundaries. but when it comes to video games, they have been tame compared to western releases. even cero rated "z" releases, which are intended for 18+ in japan have censorship. i.e. resi games removed decapitations and shadows of the damned changed the blood from red to dark purple in many instances etc.

when it comes to sexual/perverted content, however, anything goes in japan where as in america there is considsrable censorship.

Doubt the game would've sold much in a Japan anyway. A smart company has people to crunch the numbers. I'm sure they did so and decided from there it's not worth the effort.
@TheTony316
Pretty much. I'd like to think some day people will get over their hypersensitivity. If there's something in a game I don't like, I just ignore it.

@Sakisa I don't think we can. In my opinion, there is ridiculous censorship (hiding a butt in Devil May Cry) and then there is necessary censorship, like all the pedo stuff. I don't care if a character is supposed to be 5000 years old, it still looks like a child or teenager.

@KundaliniRising333
How can this be not taken off for “off-topic” but my above comments were? Lol

Anyway, we are as free as social animals in a deterministic universe get.

@naruball
This I can agree with and it's where I became a bit of a hypocrite. I abhor censorship, especially of nudity when there's tons violent games with far worse stuff than some female skin, but if a female character looks 10 and is in sexual situations, get out of here.

@naruball
Sure, except there are only about 3 examples of the latter case I’ve ever seen in console games, so it’s a bit of a straw man (admittedly I don’t look at Japan only content, only those games they feel they can sell over here, so my opinion may be distorted).

@KaijuKaiser It's definitely a superstition thing. This is probably a bad example but Disney's Haunted Mansion is completely different in China and actually has no ghosts.

@thefourfoldroot1 whether it's 3 or, 20, or just 1, my point is that censorship per se is neither good nor bad. It depends on the case. It should be examined on a case-by-case basis.

@pharos_haven when I taught in China I was told to be super careful with anything Halloween related (e.g. you can't show a picture of a skull).

Isn't there a way for Japanese PS5's to work with another NTSC game from America or something. Must be just Japanese games only work on a Japanese PS5 then I dunno. I'd hate to be a Japan man who was looking forward to this

@naruball
Whether censorship is good or bad depends on the power dynamics.

A platform holder, who has done their best to lock someone to their platform by holding a fortune’s worth of digital games hostage, for example, and which then completely changes policies post the fact, having complete control over everything that can be consumed on that platform…in my opinion is a bad thing.

A national body, put in place by an elected government which can be removed… that is the appropriate mechanism through which to enact reasonable censorship.

That’s why I have no real problem with any aspect of this story - though I feel sorry for Japanese players.

Ultimately this is a minor issue compared to the big social media platforms having a similar power, but if you want to talk about principles rather than practical aspects (such as in your original “kid” scenario being so vanishingly rare), that’s where we land.

Or just release a toned down less gory version for Japan at a later date. It might not be the experience the developers and Japanese gamers wanted but it still might end up a fun experience?

@thefourfoldroot1 well, let's just say I agree with the first part. Not so much with the second. Whether it's a company or a country, they can be criticized by us, if we think the decision is ridiculous.

@naruball
That’s fair enough. I’m not saying one can’t criticise the country you see, but rather that it’s more permissible precisely because you can criticise the country/board/government. Whereas the platform holder /social media platform etc, being a private company, are largely just said to be allowed to do what they want with “their” platform.
Anyway, thanks for the reasonable discussion.

@naruball Yea, I could be wrong but they still pray to spirits today which then would make sense.

@nessisonett NIOH has the same as a lot of other games.

Cant they just buy a western version of the game from amazon or something?

@thefourfoldroot1 are there even more than 3 examples of adult character sexualization censorship of japanese games on playstation in the west though? I notice people like to complain about this but then not give any examples.

Off the top of my head for underage censorship there's criminal girls, zanki zero, and labyrinth life.

I just hope theres a toggle to change blood colour

@Milktastrophe
There are loads. It would take too long, but just google “PS4 censorship” and you’ll get a whole list that is 99% clearly adult women being covered up. The rest might be arguable at best.

The first I remember was Dead or Alive Xtreme 3: Scarlet, and it just continued from there (although I’m sure there must have been many before I don’t know about). Clearly they are incredibly “mature”.

@Ultrasmiles sure, but it won't be localized for japanese speakers. they will miss out on the story and might not even learn the gameplay mechanics depending on how complex the tutorial is...

I thought Japan was usually more lenient with content in games in general? This is the country that gave us Resident Evil, did they just become more prudish over time?

After all the disturbing anime I've come across ? Bitch please

@thefourfoldroot1 I'll was going to give you that one to you, but see the edit. Even though Dead or Alive seems pretty borderline. Looks like a bunch of characters were originally 16 or 17 and then in recent years they decided they would just be older.

Edit: looks like DoA Xtreme 3 Scarlett was never even released in the west, so unless there's news reporting the reason it wasn't released was because it would've been censored, we don't know what effect western censorship would've had, if any. /end-edit

The problem with searching for lists is that they often don't say what's censored and often list reasons that are arguably not censorship but an intentional design decision. If the Japanese version is also "censored" it seems like it's just a horny teenager wishing his favorite anime character wore skimpier clothing. This is why actual examples are better.

@Milktastrophe
I may be getting the scarlet bit wrong, the naming conventions across platforms and DLC is confusing and I never bought it because it was censored.

Regardless, to your point, a character that is described as 17…I don’t care if the devs decide to call her 18 instead. I don’t really consider that censorship. There are different ages of consent around the world and changing the number to ensure the meaning is the same in term of child/adult is just translation from one territory to another.

But OK, if you don’t like that one we can go with

https://nintendosoup.com/nora-to-oujo-to-noraneko-heart-gets-heavy-censorship-on-ps4-but-not-on-switch/

I would note generally though that a game not being released in the west is either due to the publisher not thinking a western audience will buy it, or due to onerous censorship requirements (the western market otherwise being where the majority of money is made),

Anyway, if you want a decent list

https://forum.psnprofiles.com/topic/85087-list-of-censored-games-ps5-ps4-vita/

You can see the huge ramp up in censorship on the Sony platform by year. Now I am NOT agreeing with everything in the list being censorship because they’ve used a very broad definition (changing something which is not offensive in a particular territory, or during the particular time it originally released, but is offensive in another, for example, is just part of translation of meaning in my view, but only if what is “offensive” is set by the national body and not imposed by a platform holder who may run everything out of one country), but there are a large number of examples, from around 2018 onwards especially, of just flat out censorship in the west and Asia.

@IonMagi The resident evil games in Japan have a different addition (Z) that allows you to turn on the violence as per the western release.

I’ve lived in Osaka for 12 years: the main reason that the devs are not releasing is that they would need to release two versions. Instead of doing the work like Capcom - they’ve decided to opt out of it.

It’s their choice. So don’t act like they can’t release their original version here. That’s just untrue. It’s the same reason why some porn companies only released blurred out genital regions, it costs more to publish and print double of everything.

@Korgon Yeah because for some reason, anime doesn’t fall under the same rules. Have you ever seen OG Japanese version of Ninja Scroll?

Interesting, how MK11 is doing in Japan then.

For me its also really strange that nudity is worse then brutally murdering in some countries. No child(like) nudity that stuff i dont really like either.

@Blacksmith1985 I saw a interesting piece of people that get PTSD while doing research for realistic and brutal murders just like with The Last of Us 2. I have to say some stuff does make my skin crawl.

Loli hentai and dolphin murder is fine but some gore in a video game is no good? Give me a break.

@thefourfoldroot1 That PSNP list is not decent. We're supposed to think Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart is censored because Rivet doesn't have big breasts? No, what was released wasn't censored, it was just the final design of the character.

@Milktastrophe
So, you forgot the part where I said that I clearly don’t agree with it all? Or just conveniently decided to ignore it? Claiming it’s all useless because of one or two decisions is clearly a conscious choice on your part.

I'm not surprised the developer cancelled it if they want it censored, it's supposed to be a survival horror and it's supposed to make you piss your pants, a censored game is a waste of time and I think the developer sees it this way as well.

Sucks for Japanese gamers who wanted to play this. However I admire the devs for taking a stand. Censorship is an abomination.

@thefourfoldroot1 you still called it a decent list. If you didn't think it's decent, regardless of whether you agree with it, you shouldn't have called it decent. I don't think a list that you have to go through and do additional research on each item to confirm it actually belongs on the list is decent.

@Milktastrophe
🙄 I’m starting to understand why Pushsquare censored earlier comments. The level of reasoned debate is sadly somewhat lacking.

To be clear, calling something “decent” is a long way from calling it perfect in every respect. Obviously. Otherwise I might have called it a “great” or “fantastic” list.

This argument is asinine, so I’m going to leave you to do your nitpicking around every item on the list if you wish. It is an impressive collection of games some people think of as censored (and most of which are confirmed with documented evidence), so at least it is a decent list for you to argue against.

@thefourfoldroot1 sure, here's a "decent" list of colors, then, I guess: red, blue, pineapple, fork, mauve, car. May as well just give a list of every PSN game and leave it to the reader to figure out what actually belongs, in which point there's not much in the curated list in the first place.

Lists like the PSNP one intentionally misrepresent reality to make things seem worse than they actually are.