In an ironic turn of events, Ubisoft’s upcoming sneak-up-and-stab-from-behind simulator, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, will be censored in Japan, the country it takes place in. The company announced this confounding situation through a statement on X (formerly Twitter) that confirms that some graphic content will be removed, even though Assassin’s Creed Shadows has a Z rating from CERO, the rating organization in Japan.
Similar to an 18+ rating in the US, a Z rating in Japan means it can have strong adult material, and selling the game to anyone under the age of 18 is considered illegal. Even with this rating, CERO believes that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is still a little too much for the highest rating allowed, and demanded that Ubisoft censor the game.
Ubisoft just said that there will be some differences to be able to release it in Japan, but they will only be to the extent to comply with CERO’s requirements. These changes include the removal of the option to switch on the dismemberment of limbs and heads of enemies. The way the cut-off body parts look has also been changed to be a bit less gruesome.
Other than this change, the only other one Ubisoft shared was that some Japanese dialogue boxes will be used in the international version of the game, but will not be available in the Japanese version. No detail was given regarding what this dialogue box includes, but that is likely due to spoiler reasons.
This isn’t the first time CERO has decided to censor a game before its release date, and it has been controversial in the past as well. The issue arises with dismemberment in most cases, because the same happened with Dead Space and Stellar Blade, both of which include similar graphical content.
Dead Space was unable to get a rating in Japan because these things could not be changed. As for Stellar Blade, it was passed with a CERO D rating, which makes it playable for people above the age of 17, but those at the exact age can get it if they have parental consent.
