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[Topher]

The announcement came from Ubisoft, who said that some graphical content will be censored in Japan in order to comply with the Japanese rating board CERO.

In a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter), and translated via deepl, Ubisoft Japan said, “In order to comply with the regulations of the reviewing authorities, the Japanese version of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” (CERO:Z) will differ in some of the game’s expressions.

“The game settings have been changed so that the player cannot amputate the head and limbs of enemies at any time during play. The expression of the cut surface of the body has been changed,” it continued.

Ubisoft’s decision comes following the Japanese rating board CERO’s ‘Z’ rating, which although means that the game cannot be sold to anyone over 18, CERO still determined that the game was too violent to be sold in Japan. Ubisoft’s change means that the game can now be sold in Japan, but still have the CERO Z rating.

This isn’t the first time that Japan has imposed such strict rules on games either. In 2023, CERO banned the Dead Space Remake due to violence and also banned The Callisto Protocol in 2022. On the other hand, Stellar Blade passed with a CERO D rating, meaning the game is not suitable for those under the game of 17.

Following two delays, Assassin’s Creed Shadows officially launches March 20, 2025 on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S|X and PC.

Assassin's Creed Shadows' Graphic Content Will be Censored in Japan

The announcement came from Ubisoft, who said that some graphical content will be censored in Japan in order to comply with CERO.

insider-gaming.com

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[adamsapple]

“In order to comply with the regulations of the reviewing authorities"


before the hate-wagon starts.

 

[TintoConCasera]

CERO banned the Dead Space Remake due to violence and also banned The Callisto Protocol in 2022. On the other hand, Stellar Blade passed

Violence bad, tits and ass good.

Based, the west has so much to learn.

 

[Flabagast]

Not the first game needed to be censored in Japan, they do not allow graphic dismemberment in any game unfortunately.

This is kind of a positive news in a way, meaning that the game will really lean into gory stuff

 

[Peroroncino]

They just can't stop unloading in their knees can they.

I know Japan is tough on gore, but talk about "another one" to the pile of Ls lol.

 

[Gaiff]

Japan has become so much more stringent regarding censorship in games and TV shows in recent years. Creators abused it too much during the 90s. Remember when children anime like Dragon Ball Z had blood and dismemberment? Now compare this to Dragon Ball Super where they cannot even show blood, so it has been replaced by saliva and looks whack.

Same for games. Ninja Gaiden 2004 had copious amounts of dismemberment even in the Japanese version.

Shame.

They just can't stop unloading in their knees can they.

I know Japan is tough on gore, but talk about "another one" to the pile of Ls lol.

Literally has nothing to do with Ubisoft and is most certainly isn't "another one to the pile of Ls". It's just complying with the law.

 

[adamsapple]

Violence bad, tits and ass good.

Based, the west has so much to learn.

Wait till you see what they do to the Life is Strange games there.

 

[Peroroncino]

Literally has nothing to do with Ubisoft and is most certainly isn't "another one to the pile of Ls". It's just complying with the law.

nah, that's another L they're catching like it's pokemon. Obviously it's not their fault, which is why I mentioned Japan and gore in my post, but that doesn't change the fact it's another negative article to add to the pile.

 

[pudel]

Is this "the rise of Japan" people talking about?

 

[Gaiff]

nah, that's another L they're catching like it's pokemon. Obviously it's not their fault, which is why I mentioned Japan and gore in my post, but that doesn't change the fact it's another negative article to add to the pile.

Nothing negative about this unless you’re a moron.

 

[SlimySnake]

Why is Japan being a little bitch about some dismemberment?

Was MGS Revengence banned there too?

Violence bad, tits and ass good.

Based, the west has so much to learn.

Just goes to show that every culture has its retarded shit.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

“In order to comply with the regulations of the reviewing authorities"


before the hate-wagon starts.

what hate wagon?

AssCreed is being treated fairly and squarely.

 

[Peroroncino]

Nothing negative about this unless you’re a moron.

well I'm not about to start translating jp posts for an argument with an internet dummy who's already racing to insults to prove a point, so you just keep thinking that

 

[adamsapple]

what hate wagon?

AssCreed is being treated fairly and squarely.

 

[Gaiff]

well I'm not about to start translating jp posts for an argument with an internet dummy who's already racing to insults to prove a point, so you just keep thinking that

Prove what point? They have to comply with censorship laws.

You: lmao, another L

How the fuck is complying with the law an L lol? Your post was stupid.

 

[Sebastian1295]

Japan will ban or censor a violent videogame but they'll allow hentai and other weird crap to go unnoticed. Makes 0 sense.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Japan will ban or censor a violent videogame but they'll allow hentai and other weird crap to go unnoticed. Makes 0 sense.

isn't because porn is banned?

 

[adamsapple]

isn't because porn is banned?

No, porn isn't banned in Japan, it's not Texas

 

[ssringo]

They should just blur out the chopped off arm. Or toss a black bar over it. If it works for hentai it should work for gore!

 

[Gaiff]

Japan will ban or censor a violent videogame but they'll allow hentai and other weird crap to go unnoticed. Makes 0 sense.

Does it not? I always found it more stupid to ban female nipples in American media but allow to see people get their heads blown off.

 

[Sebastian1295]

isn't because porn is banned?

I think it's just restricted and not outright banned but i could be wrong.

 

[Kacho]

No, porn isn't banned in Japan, it's not Texas

Porn isn't banned in Texas

 

[adamsapple]

Porn isn't banned in Texas

The HUB is banned though

Half the video results link to it.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

No, porn isn't banned in Japan, it's not Texas

breh

 

[Nankatsu]

So they're gonna censor Yasuke through the whole game?

That's rough.

Spoiler

 

[adamsapple]

breh

Yeah, they don't ban it, they just mozaic the genitals, hence all the blurry hentai memes.

 

[hemo memo]

Not the first game needed to be censored in Japan, they do not allow graphic dismemberment in any game unfortunately.

How is that unfortunate?

 

[Sebastian1295]

Does it not? I always found it more stupid to ban female nipples in American media but allow to see people get their heads blown off.

Alot of things America does nowadays is baffling tbh. I do feel like the ratings board in america is pretty good though in terms of allowing the majority of stuff to go through and only censoring borderline content.

 

[viveks86]

Wait, was the Japanese rating different for GoT and its amputations? Or am I misremembering gore in that game?

 

[adamsapple]

Wait, was the Japanese rating different for GoT and its amputations? Or am I misremembering gore in that game?

Tsushima also got a Cero Z rating in Japan, which is the equivalent of M rating in the US.

 

[EDMIX]

Japan has become so much more stringent regarding censorship in games and TV shows in recent years. Creators abused it too much during the 90s. Remember when children anime like Dragon Ball Z had blood and dismemberment? Now compare this to Dragon Ball Super where they cannot even show blood, so it has been replaced by saliva and looks whack.

Same for games. Ninja Gaiden 2004 had copious amounts of dismemberment even in the Japanese version.

Shame.


Literally has nothing to do with Ubisoft and is most certainly isn't "another one to the pile of Ls". It's just complying with the law.

thats sooooo weird


I'm ok with keeping kids safe, but a rating system exist for a reason. Learning Japanese most of the times I bought the Yakuza games, Final Fantasy and a few other titles in Japanese, but many of the titles didn't have this type of content where I'd notice it was different or something, so I never knew this did this weird stuff.

Wait, was the Japanese rating different for GoT and its amputations? Or am I misremembering gore in that game?

I don't know really, you can take people's hands off at random some times with a few specials, but I was also playing the western version of that title, I don't know if the exact Japanese version actually allows that or how recent this thing actually is as a law

 

[GymWolf]

Violence bad, tits and ass good.

Based, the west has so much to learn.

Nah, they should learn from each other and have both violence and tits.

 

[viveks86]

I don't know really, you can take people's hands off at random some times with a few specials, but I was also playing the western version of that title, I don't know if the exact Japanese version actually allows that or how recent this thing actually is as a law

Don't you also chop the general's heads off when you clear out those enemy outposts? I'd be shocked if all that was removed for the Japanese version (or that it got an unfavorable rating). Just finding this news a bit bizarre (unless they went overboard with gore, which is unlikely for AC).

 

[EDMIX]

Nah, they should learn from each other and have both violence and tits.

This.

Make that fucking M rating actually count. M rating now days legit gets treated like PG13 lol

Don't you also chop the general's heads off when you clear out those enemy outposts? I'd be shocked if all that was removed for the Japanese version (or that it got an unfavorable rating). Just finding this news a bit bizarre (unless they went overboard with gore, which is unlikely for AC).

I'm curious too, I'll try to look it up as I wonder when this came into effect

 

[LazyParrot]

Violence bad, tits and ass good.

Based, the west has so much to learn.

The US and Canada are pretty much the only Western countries that have it the other way around lol. Germany in particular was the epitome of "sex good, violence bad" during the 90s and early 2000s. They replaced human units in games like Command & Conquer with robots while handing out sub-18 ratings to literal porn industry simulators like Wet: The Sexy Empire.

 

[//DEVIL//]

I mean.. that's the least of the game problems lol.

 

[Mr Moose]

breh

Assholes are fine and uncensored though.

 

[yurinka]

Yes, since forever all videogames have to censor gore/cutting limbs to be published in Japan, it isn't something new or special for this game.

 

[GymWolf]

Assholes are fine and uncensored though.

Assholes are majestic

Spoiler

 

[viveks86]

Yes, since forever all videogames have to censor gore/cutting limbs to be published in Japan, it isn't something new or special for this game.

So how did GoT get away with it? Camera angles to not focus on it?

 

[Evil Calvin]

No, porn isn't banned in Japan, it's not Texas

Yet almost every anime female is sexualized and looks underaged........that's Japan for you

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Are they referencing the black Samurai?

 

[Shaki12345]

Japan is a great county, but when it comes to censorship they are backwards as F. The things they show (tentacle penises fucking little girls) and the things they don't (some cuts on a body) don't make any sense.

Something is clearly wrong when 70 years ago Kurosawa made movies where decapitation was as normal as anything.

 

[yurinka]

So how did GoT get away with it? Camera angles to not focus on it?

I haven't bought the Japanese version or checked how games do it, I assume they'll reduce the amount of blood and replace the killing animations.

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

This is nothing new, literally.
Even RE4 was censored like this 20 years ago.

 

[viveks86]

I haven't bought the Japanese version. But I assume that like in any other game (like the Resident Evil ones since the PS1 days) they'll remove any gore and limbs cuts for the Japanese version.

Guess I know what I'm doing in my free time the rest of the day. Looking up japanese versions of GoT decapitations!

 

[DeepEnigma]

Violence bad, tits and ass good.

Based, the west has so much to learn.

But... it's still violence tho.

Unless you're talking your feelings out in every encounter and not tossing them little Japanese men all over the place with a myriad of weapons, etc..

 

[viveks86]

I haven't bought the Japanese version or checked how games do it, I assume they'll reduce the amount of blood and replace the killing animations.

So I just did a bunch of digging and can confirm none of the decapitation or gore had to be cut for GoT. Was Cero Z, but perhaps there is some nuance that we are missing here. Or it’s just that Japanese retailers are treating Cero Z differently now. For example, I see a headline on Nojima announcing they won’t sell Cero Z games anymore in 2023.

Japanese Retailer Nojima Discontinuing Sale of All Games Rated CERO Z (18+)

 

[lifa-cobex]

Assholes are fine and uncensored though.

Why do you think the birth rate is down over their.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Assholes are fine and uncensored though.