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Stellar Blade Developer Shift Up addresses censorship claims "This is our final product. We are discussing this internally"

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Clearly someone at Sony freaked out at the last minute and made them put these changes in after the disc went into production. Really pathetic.

Madflavor Madflavor you were right
Same exact thing happened with DMCV. The lights didn't exist on disc. They did digitally, until they removed the pointless censorship. Hopefully something similar will be done here as well.
 
this drama is even more pathetic than HARD R.

They have different versions of each outfit and they chose what they thought was better aesthetically. That has nothing to do with censorship.

I would take the bait if the bunny suit were the only sexy one in the game but we have the skinsuit (the most lewd outfit in AAA gaming right now) and a huge variety of bikinis and skimpy dresses. This is a non-issue. And by blowing this out of proportion people are disrespecting one of the few devs that are all in for players, not for the media or corporate greed. That enrages me.

I'm starting to think that we deserve the poor state of our entertainment if this dumb overreaction is the best we can do.
 

Three

Member
Slightly more classy design for a bondage costume in a game about a cyborg lewd female slicing up aliens and demons. Yep checks out.
Why not, considering you're suggesting it isn't lewd enough? If it's not lewd enough for you then clearly it has a little more class than you would have liked in the game. Why do you think this was not a decision by the studio or creator though to make it less lewd even when they've explicitly told you it was uncensored.

Show me the bunny suits you've seen in real life where they wear a pair of briefs underneath the leotard. I might have been willing to concede to your point if the cut of the leotard itself was just lowered a bit, but that's not what happened. A last minute emergency censor job happened instead where they just added a layer of clothing to the texture in the typical lazy censorship way.
Perhaps but maybe they just changed the design of what she's wearing. It's a copy of this. Right down to the hoody ears maybe they differentiated the design.

e928f190bbcfd06c9598bc7887ce2626.jpg


My point is why do you think it was mandated by somebody else and not them adding the underwear? What makes you so sure about that?
 

Gexxy1

Member
The Rabbit and Bondage outfits are the only two altered by the day-one patch. The graphic icons for several other outfits, such as the bikini, may suggest they featured less fabric in an earlier iteration, but regardless, they remain the same both pre-and-post patch.
Thanks.

Tbh the changes don't bother me.

What I am bothered by is the Sony attitude that they will censor whatever they want to, with no regard to how the game was marketed and promised. All because they want to cater to the fragile snowflakes who won't buy the game anyway. The attack on free speech these days is disturbing. Gen Z has no respect for what liberty actually means.
 
What I am bothered by is the Sony attitude that they will censor whatever they want to, with no regard to how the game was marketed and promised. All because they want to cater to the fragile snowflakes who won't buy the game anyway. The attack on free speech these days is disturbing. Gen Z has no respect for what liberty actually means.
While I'm also more inclined to lay blame at Sony, between content in trailers, on-disc, and some other bits-and-bobs, there are just enough oddities that I'd like a clear, official statement on the matter. Admittedly, I might not believe what Sony or Shift Up has to say, but I'll accept their word, regardless. I essentially have a month to make a decision on my disc copy, so I'm not in a rush.
 
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Three

Member
Anymore because there was enough outrage. It wasn't a thing with early release copies of DMC5 via disc either. It was something enforced by Sony before they backed off.

Again, BG3 is a western game and as I said before Sony are hypocritical in their censorship because they hire hypocritical retards who have a bone to pick with eastern games.


The games were fine for years on Playstation without pointless censorship until around 2016 when they moved HQs. The creator of Senran Kagura literally stated it was because of Sony that he left and quit Marvelous. Omega Labyrinth released uncensored on Nintendo Switch. Its time to face reality.
Yeah I understand that Senran and Omega were censored but my point is that it's not because of discrimination towards Japanese devs. The point was that DMC and BG3 have similar nudity with similar beauty standards (no man faced steriod junkie ones). I said you have a point regarding Senran and Omega but this is likely more to do with the fact that the characters were childlike and not because they just hate Japanese devs vs American ones.
 
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Madflavor

Member
Seems all the Sony "forced censorship" can't answer.

It's because nobody knows the actual answer. We don't know what exactly Sony deems okay and not okay. But it's important to clarify that the Bunny Suit was not the only outfit that got changed. It was several, at least 5 that we know of so far. Yes there are other revealing outfits, but from what we can tell by their design, they were likely nerfed at some point as well. Shrift Up are a horny fucking studio. You need only look at Nikke, the trailers for Stellar Blade, and a couple interviews from the game director to know this. I'm very doubtful that this was a situation where they decided at the 11th hour that they didn't like some of the outfits and decided to alter them into versions they liked better. The more likely scenario is that close to release Sony reviewed the 1.0 version and felt that some of the outfits went a bit too far and requested Shrift Up tone them down. This would explain the tacked on look of some of the additional bits and layers on some of the outfits due to time constraint.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Yeah I understand that Senran and Omega were censored but my point is that it's not because of discrimination towards Japanese devs. The point was that DMC and BG3 have similar nudity with similar beauty standards (no man faced steriod junkie ones).
And as I said, DMC was initially censored, it being an eastern made game. It was censored after the fact, after ratings, after disc pressing, by Sony. It was not censored on Xbox, only western PS4s. It was a Sony enforced censorship moment.

BG3 is a western made game that allows you to have degenerate sex with animals and prominently features a gay, effeminate man and a man-faced githraki. And I would also argue that the half-elf isn't that attractive, but personal tastes and all that.

I said you have a point regarding Senran and Omega but this is likely more to do with the fact that the characters were childlike and not because they just hate Japanese devs vs American ones.
If it was due to them looking young, they would be censored on Switch as well. It was enforced by Sony, was stated as such by the developer and lead of the franchise, and became such an issue that he left the company because of it.

There is no arguing around it, Sony is the issue here.
 

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
So can we finally call it 'censorship' now? Because I have folks telling me that alteration made that is not in response to any activists is not censorship among other things.
 

Topher

Gold Member
So can we finally call it 'censorship' now? Because I have folks telling me that alteration made that is not in response to any activists is not censorship among other things.

I don't know who you are talking about because that is certainly not what I said to you in the other thread. I said the "hard R" change was not censorship because it was completely unintentional and inconsequential. I replied to someone else at the same time pointing out that that change was not in response to "activists" and it factually wasn't. So who are you referring to here?
 
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ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
There are costumes in the Game post patch that are way more revealing than those that are censored, are You all sure that Sony is censoring very specific costumes?

Besides, I like the censored versions too, I hope they add more variants like they did in new Game +.

That's what I've noticed. If it were actual censorship, wouldn't it be all of the sexy outfits? Yet some of the hottest ones have been left untouched.

There's always the fringe chance those could be changed later and if that's the case, yeah, it would be a very scummy move. If outfits like the skin suit were heavily changed/censored, that'd of been another issue.

That said tho, yeah I agree with other posters saying there should at least be an option to restore what was changed. If someone wants the unaltered bunny outfit in their free time privately while playing, let 'em. They already paid for the game, no? If the changes were made because of specific regions, then the game should only have the changes mandatory (i.e no options to change back) for those specific regions.

Wasn't there an issue a few years ago about some shooter (might've been Rainbow Six) having certain cosmetics and religious imagery censored for China that was then applied to global versions of the game? Stuff like that is a bit too far IMO.

Even so, it's equally as cringe and stupid to see people like Mark Kern start a petition to restore this stuff and sounding like an otaku virgin about how a little less crotch area being visible is 'letting down the hopes and dreams of your fans'. The dude is seriously sounding like a sperg IMHO about this, crazier still to call for a boycott over it. Like, they're just admitting that the only reason they liked the game was because people like Alyssa Mercante & Western media were dogpiling it for "oversexualization", which turned it into some object for the culture war for other people.

And also shows they were only interested for the T&A or thought the devs made the game specifically for "the culture war" or some shit. Just people on both sides (mainly American) being spergs and using the game as a weapon against one another. That kind of stuff actually pisses me off quite a bit, I saw the same happen with Alita: Battle Angel when Captain Marvel was coming out. Yes Alita is a MUCH better film but a lot of people using it to attack Captain Marvel (a mediocre film) weren't even fans of Alita and never read the manga or watched the OVA, but they took over the discourse.

Like at this point I just think devs should ignore American gamers online altogether. Most of us aren't that important to listen to, sadly :/

the skin suit is giving you camel toe, subtle nipple bump, and the diving suit draws your gaze at the clit area.

5nK8QO7.gif

how is that even compute?

It's the dumbest claim to 'censorship' I've seen all decade.

The developer tweeted that whole"Uncensored in all regions" thing themselves, they were definitely riding on support being given for not backing down and covering the characters up. Then day one patch covers them up. I think folks are rightly angry at being led on, I would imagine a lot of people pre-ordered specifically to support this anti-censorship message, who've now sorta just been hoodwinked.

TLDR; people are right to be mad

Also TLDR; most mad people (particularly American) are dumb.

Like seriously, we're complaining about a bunny suit with a stripe of extra clothing on the crotch area? That's censorship now? Do people really think all of these small, inconsequential changes were made in the span of two days right before a game's launch?

Man no wonder gaming companies think gamers are gullible sheeple 😞
 
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Kilau

Member
It's because nobody knows the actual answer. We don't know what exactly Sony deems okay and not okay. But it's important to clarify that the Bunny Suit was not the only outfit that got changed. It was several, at least 5 that we know of so far. Yes there are other revealing outfits, but from what we can tell by their design, they were likely nerfed at some point as well. Shrift Up are a horny fucking studio. You need only look at Nikke, the trailers for Stellar Blade, and a couple interviews from the game director to know this. I'm very doubtful that this was a situation where they decided at the 11th hour that they didn't like some of the outfits and decided to alter them into versions they liked better. The more likely scenario is that close to release Sony reviewed the 1.0 version and felt that some of the outfits went a bit too far and requested Shrift Up tone them down. This would explain the tacked on look of some of the additional bits and layers on some of the outfits due to time constraint.

Exactly, we don’t know for sure. What we do know is that the changes don‘t fit with style of the outfits so they make little sense and we also know the publisher is notorious for these types of forced changes. It doesn’t take a huge leap to assume Soyny messed with it.
 

Three

Member
It's because nobody knows the actual answer. We don't know what exactly Sony deems okay and not okay. But it's important to clarify that the Bunny Suit was not the only outfit that got changed. It was several, at least 5 that we know of so far. Yes there are other revealing outfits, but from what we can tell by their design, they were likely nerfed at some point as well. Shrift Up are a horny fucking studio. You need only look at Nikke, the trailers for Stellar Blade, and a couple interviews from the game director to know this. I'm very doubtful that this was a situation where they decided at the 11th hour that they didn't like some of the outfits and decided to alter them into versions they liked better. The more likely scenario is that close to release Sony reviewed the 1.0 version and felt that some of the outfits went a bit too far and requested Shrift Up tone them down. This would explain the tacked on look of some of the additional bits and layers on some of the outfits due to time constraint.
1.0 would have gone through certification/review already before any discs are pressed so any decision would have been 11th hour either way. Considering the fact that Shift Up have made in development changes like this in the past on PC, Android and iOS only games, it is just as likely that they can make decisions themselves on how revealing/lewd they want their designs to be especially if there's public pressure at the time too.

And as I said, DMC was initially censored, it being an eastern made game. It was censored after the fact, after ratings, after disc pressing, by Sony. It was not censored on Xbox, only western PS4s. It was a Sony enforced censorship moment.

BG3 is a western made game that allows you to have degenerate sex with animals and prominently features a gay, effeminate man and a man-faced githraki. And I would also argue that the half-elf isn't that attractive, but personal tastes and all that.


If it was due to them looking young, they would be censored on Switch as well. It was enforced by Sony, was stated as such by the developer and lead of the franchise, and became such an issue that he left the company because of it.

There is no arguing around it, Sony is the issue here.
Switch is irrelevant when discussing the reason why another manufacturer would censor it. Nobody is saying those games weren't censored so I'm not sure what Switch proves. I just think your idea that they have it out for Japanese devs is misplaced otherwise other games in the past like Conan wouldn't have been affected either. I think it comes down to other factors like if the characters look underage or set policy at the time.
 
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IMO something is only genuinely 'censorship' if it fundamentally affects the creative vision of a product.

It's also funny how certain changes by a dev and/or pub are considered as messing with creative intent, but mods putting Thomas the Tank Engine in a bikini in Resident Evil somehow isn't? 🤣 C'mon, now.
 
I would take the bait if the bunny suit were the only sexy one in the game but we have the skinsuit (the most lewd outfit in AAA gaming right now) and a huge variety of bikinis and skimpy dresses. This is a non-issue. And by blowing this out of proportion people are disrespecting one of the few devs that are all in for players, not for the media or corporate greed. That enrages me...
yep. pure mountains out of molehills, targeting what are some of the actual good guys. juvenile, & deeply unappreciative...
 

DaGwaphics

Member
Why would the first outfit need to be censored to begin with? You can go to any beach and find 20 women less clothed than that.

I guess the classic Jean Grey look would be too form fitting for today. LOL

s-l1200.webp


Edit: I see that it doesn't really appear to be a censorship thing, but just a costume design change. Since the more revealing outfits are there. Must read entire thread before posting. My bad.
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
This is literally all this is.

It literally is not. The ratings boards already gave it the go ahead before the disc pressing began. The discs have the uncensored version.

1.0 would have gone through certification/review already before any discs are pressed so any decision would have been 11th hour either way. Considering the fact that Shift Up have made in development changes like this in the past on PC, Android and iOS only games, it is just as likely that they can make decisions themselves on how revealing/lewd they want their designs to be especially if there's public pressure at the time too.


Switch is irrelevant when discussing the reason why another manufacturer would censor it. Nobody is saying those games weren't censored so I'm not sure what Switch proves. I just think your idea that they have it out for Japanese devs is misplaced otherwise other games in the past like Conan wouldn't have been affected either. I think it comes down to other factors like if the characters look underage or set policy at the time.

Switch is completely relevant when showcasing the game wasn't censored because of concern, but because of one sided, biased demands from Sony.
 

Three

Member
Switch is completely relevant when showcasing the game wasn't censored because of concern, but because of one sided, biased demands from Sony.
That makes absolutely no sense. How is giving the reason one manufacturer makes a decision affected by whether another manufacturer makes that decision at all or not?

It's like some guy in some Middle Eastern country arguing that the only reason they're being put in jail for drinking is because they're Japanese and arguing that the real reason isn't because they're drinking alcohol since the US allowed them to drink. so it must be for the simple fact of being Japanese in the Middle East. If this logic makes sense to you then carry on.
 
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You can see legs even further up than this costume in the game:
vvPGLBsv8wGUuKQ4C6Jjo7.jpg

It has nothing to do with censorship of legs in Saudi Arabia. It's likely that they designed the outfits and added details as they went along and now they know this won't "convince users" so they're probably internally discussing adding options for older WIP costumes in the game. Would be wise to do this after reviews have settled though, you know how some media types will take that patch.
They've done this exact same shit before with Nikke and everytime it was because Apple and Google were breathing down their necks to tone things down. No way it's not the same shit here, Sony is behind this after Shift spent so much time bragging about how uncensored the game was and how sexuality was no prob. Shame.
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
That makes absolutely no sense. How is giving the reason one manufacturer makes a decision affected by whether another manufacturer makes that decision at all or not?

It's like some guy in some Middle Eastern country arguing that the only reason they're being put in jail for drinking is because they're Japanese and arguing that the real reason isn't because they're drinking alcohol since the US allowed them to drink. so it must be for the simple fact of being Japanese in the Middle East. If this logic makes sense to you then carry on.

Horrid analogy.

Let’s start over. Do you think Sony is enforcing censorship that is not based on ratings or laws to sell a product in the country? Yes or no.
 

Three

Member
Horrid analogy.

Let’s start over. Do you think Sony is enforcing censorship that is not based on ratings or laws to sell a product in the country? Yes or no.
Yes, I believe Sony censored Omega and Senran due to a policy of their own where they're less likely to accept sexualy explicit content if the characters look underage. Not simply because the developer is Japanese. The analogy is apt. This reasoning has nothing to do with whether Switch decided to do the same or not.
 

Three

Member
They've done this exact same shit before with Nikke and everytime it was because Apple and Google were breathing down their necks to tone things down. No way it's not the same shit here, Sony is behind this after Shift spent so much time bragging about how uncensored the game was and how sexuality was no prob. Shame.
And the windows version? Who was stopping/censoring that one?
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Yes, I believe Sony censored Omega and Senran due to a policy of their own where they're less likely to accept sexualy explicit content if the characters look underage. Not simply because the developer is Japanese. The analogy is apt. This reasoning has nothing to do with whether Switch decided to do the same or not.
I think we were arguing the same thing in two different ways and just weren't understanding each other, aside from one key point.

We both agree that Sony is the reason that the games are being censored. It has no bearing on ratings or genuine concerns as the same games were released, uncensored, on other platforms known and trusted for being "family friendly". You think that it is due to the characters "looking underaged", however I would like to point out the fact that Sony has allowed multiple western games within that same time frame on their platform uncensored. Those games featuring children in sexually explicit situations, one such being Life is Strange 2 which literally had a teenage sex scene.

The key point is that you seem to think they are trying to be moral arbitrators while ignoring the numerous one sided censorship situations employed against Japanese games at the same time that Sony moved HQs from Japan to California. In that same time frame multiple devs, including the creator of Senran Kagura itself outright stating these facts. On top of all of that, Sony also was acting actively hostile to the Japanese developers, especially lower profile/indie devs by refusing to offer translation services and forcing english communication (something the JPN HQs offered prior for other languages).

We have plenty of evidence to showcase that Sony, at least since 2016, has been actively hostile and enforcing one sided censorship. Said censorship not being shown to western devs or those who promote a very specific message.
 

Griffon

Member
Nah... All I see is unfinished costumes that got the final touches late in dev. Especially since we already got other costumes that are much more revealing than those.

Regarding the gore, I could see it as a way to keep ratings in check, but then again I don't really give a fuck about gore personally. Not something I'd fight over.
 
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Pointing out facts that the game was objectively censored is insane?
I am not the one who believes the director of the game is being hostage by Sony and forced to censor the game (after it already went to activists/"woke" reviewers) or/and is an attempt to appease some weird group online... especially when
they arelady allowed this :

cUIa2ou.jpeg
c2QXN7m.jpeg


her sliutte is as naked as it gets and it's exquisite.
Meanwhile you are bending over backwards trying desperately to dismiss this simple and obvious fact. You seem more like the Era member here
i don't think an era member would have posted the images that I did.
 

Three

Member
Sony has allowed multiple western games within that same time frame on their platform uncensored. Those games featuring children in sexually explicit situations, one such being Life is Strange 2 which literally had a teenage sex scene.
Cassidy is at least 18 possibly even 21 (their ages are never directly given) and there was some controversy that Finn could be 17 so that could make her a pedophile but the actual "sex scene" wasn't controversial. It's mild at best, and can barely be called sexually explicit.

We have plenty of evidence to showcase that Sony, at least since 2016, has been actively hostile and enforcing one sided censorship. Said censorship not being shown to western devs or those who promote a very specific message.
But I already gave an example where Conan has been censored on consoles (a western game) and you just ignored it and concentrated on the same edge case Japanese game about fondling questionably aged girls in school uniforms in the gym. It has nothing to do with it being Japanese and more to do with it being a far more risqué game in nature. You can try and frame that as some kind of racism towards particular devs but it isn't.
 
Considering this is in the game I don't think "form fitting" is an issue for today's games:



People just making a mountain out of a mole hill for some minor costume changes. Just a guess but I think the bunny suit change might even be a change to avoid a copyright issue with this walmart product.


You're asking for Western gamers to apply a degree of critical thought. If it wasn't obvious by now, that is impossible to ask of most Western gamers these days.

Yet somehow Bloodborne gets a free pass.



Gamer: I want to fap it to this hot chick

Also Gamer: I want blood over this hot chick so I can fap to her

Me: <dick collapses>

Probably Dev: <dick collapses>

I mean let's think about this one for a 'sec...
 
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