Developer Shift Up has announced that their game Stellar Blade will be released without censorship in all regions. This means the game won’t be changed to make it more acceptable for different audiences.
Some people are celebrating this announcement as a win against censorship in games. However, it’s not clear if censorship was ever planned for Stellar Blade in the first place.
Censorship in games can vary based on cultural differences. For example, games might be made easier for global audiences or toned down to fit certain markets. It’s usually about selling more copies and getting better ratings, not about limiting creativity.
Stellar Blade has already shown revealing character designs and some violent scenes in trailers and demos. These aren’t more extreme than what we see in other big games like Resident Evil.
Even though it’s not clear where censorship would have happened in Stellar Blade, the announcement caused a stir on social media. Some people saw it as a victory against an imagined censorship threat.
Games like Stellar Blade often get caught up in debates about censorship, similar to what happened with Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE. In that case, Nintendo made changes to certain scenes and outfits. Some fans didn’t agree with these changes.
Channels like Censored Gaming talk about how games can be altered during translation to fit different markets. This can be controversial, but hostility isn’t the answer.
Shift Up hasn’t explained exactly what won’t be censored in Stellar Blade, so the celebration about it being uncensored might not be based on real changes. This kind of announcement can create unnecessary tension.
In the end, Stellar Blade being uncensored doesn’t mean much until we know what changes were avoided. Celebrating without understanding the full picture can cause more harm than good.