Cyberpunk 2077 has now released worldwide after 8 years in the making, but not all
regions around the world have received the same version of the highly anticipated game.
Instead, some versions have had to have a variety of different changes made
to comply with local regulations. It was announced back in June that
Cyberpunk 2077 will be receiving a localized release in Middle Eastern regions, with the
announcement also saying that the release will be within the guidelines of the age rating bodies of
United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The game has also been given a 21 years
and over rating, which is the highest in the region and is also much higher than the max
rating of other rating systems around the world - with these normally being capped
at 18 years and over for the upmost limit. The announcement revealing that it will be
within the guidelines of the countries’ age rating bodies seemed to suggest that the game had to be
altered to meet regulation standards, but it wasn’t known what exactly would be changed.
When release day came around though, there have been large reports from players that not only has
the explicit raunchy scenes and any explicit lack of clothing been cut, but so has any LGBT themes.
This means, for instance, that you can no longer create a trans
character during character creation, nor can you have same-gender relationships.
This news is comparable to another big game from this year, this being The Last Of Us 2. Except,
for The Last Of Us 2, the game would be denied a Middle Eastern release at all,
due to the prominent LGBT themes that are quite a big part of the game’s narrative.
The Last Of Us 2 also ran into censorship issues in another region
around the world - this region being Japan. Unlike PC gaming, Japanese console games
are regulated by the Computer Entertainment Rating Organization, who have quite stricter
rules for what is and isn’t allowed to be depicted than most other parts of the world.
This means that, even with it releasing with the max 18 years and over rating, there were
certain areas of the game that exceeded what is acceptable to be shown in Japanese console games.
And so, due to this, The Last Of Us 2 received heavy cuts to the game’s both violent and risqué
content, which is something the channel has taken a look at in more detail in previous videos.
Like The Last Of Us 2, Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t only have censorship issues in the Middle East,
but also in Japan. And again, this is despite it being given the max 18+ rating.
Unlike the Middle East however, Japanese gamers were informed prior to release
about the type of changes to expect. This slideshow from the developers at CD
Projekt Red explained that these changes would only be for the console releases of the game
and that they are due to CERO’s policies. The list of changes included that there would
be no longer any male and female full frontal lack of clothing or bare female chests, as well
as changes to the game’s other risqué content. It also specified that the damage textures following
dismemberment will be modified, as well as the removal of any sight of internal organs.
This means that dismemberment during gameplay is still possible in the Japanese version,
but that the resulting wounds of the cut surface is blackened out.
Any explicit lack of clothing is handled the same as the censor option in the rest of the world’s
menu settings and means that your own character, as well as all other characters during the game’s
story, will always be kept covered up. This also means no longer being able to customize the
explicit body options during character creation. The Japanese changes go much further than the
censor option found in the rest of the world however.
During romance scenes for instance, any explicit moments are completely cut out, whilst this menu
setting would instead keep the scenes intact but simply keep everybody clothed during them.
Alongside this, some of the advertisements that can be found all throughout Night City
also got modified for the Japanese version by obscuring them with a static-like effect.
This means that any details that would have caused issues with
the Japanese ratings are kept covered up. Also, due to the fact that unlike the rest
of the world, the censorship isn’t optional over in Japan, this can also lead to some
plot points being made confusing or less clear. For example during the mission Disasterpiece,
or as it’s known in the Japanese translation Nightmare Works, one of the plot points
involve coming across a body that has had its body modification implants harvested.
But in Japanese version the body is kept covered up with cloth the entire time,
due to being able to see internal organs as well as the bare female chest.
Despite this however, the dialogue during the scene is kept the same and so the player will say
“It seems that the internal organs have been pulled out” despite not being able to see
anything. And so, little points like this can lead to the censorship being quite jarring at times.
Some more changes that have been made in the Japanese version include changes to any
phallic shaped objects that you’ll find in the games world and, considering the lust-obsessed
setting that the story revolves around, this is something that you’ll come across a lot.
And so many of the toys for example were either removed or replaced with other objects.
This also means that some of the items that you can buy from vendors were modified as well.
And then lastly, this means that you can no longer find the phallic-shaped iconic weapon, Sir John
Phallustiff, if you choose to romance Stout. Instead, in the Japanese version, there will
simply be a regular Electric Baton on the bed, rather than the rare iconic
weapon that’s exclusive to this event. What are your thoughts on these changes?
As always, let us know your thoughts below and hit subscribe if you’re interested in
seeing more videos like this one. Until next time, thank you for watching.