Late last week, it was revealed that there will be a heavy dose of Cyberpunk 2077 censorship in Japan, which is in surprising contrast to Australia. While no reason has been given, it’s a rather odd reversal of roles considering Australia’s normally tumultuous history with video games of this sort of genre.
According to the various changes made in Japan, the Japanese version of Cyberpunk 2077 will be clapping formerly naked characters in underwear, and will also be getting rid of the “genital customization” option in the game’s character creator.
Sexually explicit content will also be revised in this version, which includes explicit depictions of genitals ranging from being on characters to being on billboards. Sexually explicit content isn’t the only thing being adjusted either, as gore will also be toned down for things like severed limbs or exposed guts.
What makes it so interesting is that normally Australia might be the country to engage in Cyberpunk 2077 censorship. The country has had a tumultuous history with games that its government found objectionable, such as Left 4 Dead 2. However, Cyberpunk will be rated R18 in that country, and will be released completely unedited.
While CD Projekt RED (the game’s developer) games often have a large amount of violence and sexual imagery in them, if it’s enough that Japan is wanting to censor it, Cyberpunk 2077 must be an entirely different beast, though this isn’t news to anyone who’s been watching the trailers.
All of the trailers for Cyberpunk 2077 have been fairly full of gore and other sexual imagery. Even the original 2013 trailer ended by showing a blood-splattered alley. With all the augmentations we’re likely to get, and what we can do with them, Japan may be deciding to err on the side of caution.
While Japanese gamers may not be getting the full experience of the game due to their country’s Cyberpunk 2077 censorship hopefully that won’t impact their enjoyment of the game when it releases on the Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC on November 19.
