Censorship Stellar Blade Censorship Thread

[Ebicentre]

In a disappointing move that should surprise absolutely no-one, Sony decided to ruin the only good thing they had going for the PS5, by censoring Shift Up's Stellar Blade right before the official release date.​

21st APRIL 2024​

The official Stellar Blade Twitter account posted the following message (archive here):

Spoiler: quote

「Stellar Blade」 offers the same uncensored version in all countries, including the Japanese version. ステラブレードは、日本版を含むすべての国で検閲されていない同じバージョンを提供しています。 #StellarBlade #PS5 #Uncensored

Three days later, however, it turns out that was a lie - thanks to Sony's intervention.

24th APRIL 2024​

It turns out Lance McDonald (allegedly) and the mainstream media coordinated a hit-piece on Stellar Blade for unintentionally placing a 'HARD' graffiti texture next to the letter R. The Day 1 patch replaces the graffiti with 'CRIME' instead.

Spoiler: 1.0

Spoiler: Day 1 patch

26th APRIL 2024​

Former WoW developer Mark Kern shared information on his Twitter account, documenting changes found by players who owned review copies of Stellar Blade (archive here). Eve's swimsuit seems to have been the most affected by Sony.

Spoiler: screenshots

In related news, IGN Japan interviewed Yoko Taro (of NieR:Automata fame) and Creative Director Hyung-Tae Kim, where they talked about each other's games. Taro asked Kim a question that caused an interesting reaction (translated).

IGN: Mr. Yoko, it has to be said that you are also well known for your unique vision as a developer. This was already apparent in Drakengard, your first project as director. Was it a long road to become a director?

Yoko: Actually, the person that was directing it at the time became busy with another project. I was asked to take over, so reaching the position of director happened quite naturally. At the time, Square Enix asked me to make a game like Dynasty Warriors, but set in a fantasy world. I thought that would be challenging to pull off, but since I was getting paid I said, "I’ll do it." There weren’t any instructions for the world setting and scenario, so I simply did what I wanted in those areas. I think this resulted in a quite unique product. It was a very dark scenario, and I remember being asked why that was necessary. It ended in a fight (between Yoko and Square Enix). Speaking of which, Mr. Kim, I wanted to ask you if there were any fights with Sony Interactive Enteratainment (SIE), since they are publishing Stellar Blade [emphasis mine].

Kim: (Glances at SIE staff members in the room and laughs.) [Emphasis mine.] The people at SIE are… very, very nice!

Yoko: SIE’s staff members are pulling faces I’ve never seen before. I wish the readers of this article could see it!

WHAT'S THE TAKEAWAY AS OF 26/04/2024?​

• Sony are lying scumbags who deserve to go bankrupt
• The only uncensored version of Stellar Blade to now exist is the 1.0 physical disc
• There is no confirmation of a PC release later down the line (therefore, no mods)
• This man is probably the person responsible for the censorship

Spoiler: Head of Global Third Party Relations

 

[Hellhammer]

It's pretty disappointing to see it happened, but at the same time I'm glad I've skipped the PS5 after Sony announced it's censorship policy half decade ago.

Edit: Oh BTW, I'm just gonna leave this here.

Tweet || Archive

The biggest mistakes the developers has ever made was working for Sony.

 

[Ronnie21093]

Hopefully the devs are smart enough to port the game uncensored to PC. Fuck Soyny.

 

[Narmy]

I always thought the hype over this game was strange. Anybody with principles would have boycotted the PS5 after Sony went crazy and moved Playstation to America and started censoring everything, so who are these people with a PS5 who suddenly care about getting an uncensored game?

 

[Rama]

On one hand i'm as angry as everyone else. On the other hand, i never thought we could get Stellar Blade in it's current form in the first place. I've kept an eye out since this was teased as Project EVE, and it was definitely a project far beyond the capability of Shift Up back then. They had neither the funds or the knowhow to bring their vision to life. They needed a big backer and the only one who took them up on it was...Sony. When the game was revealed to be a PS5 exclusive and Eve got clad in that ugly ass jacket? I know my fear came true, Soyny covered my girl up. I basically gave up on the game back then.

Info blackout for 2 years and behold? New trailer dropped with a bazillion of some of the sexiest outfits ever in a AAA video game. What happened? Did Sony changed their way after getting rid of that fat old white american dude and a Japanese man is now in charge (last i checked)? Did Shift Up made so much money from Nikke they can afford to bargain with Soyny? I don't know nor care. All i know is that we're back baby! Until this censorship happened...

This is a difficult situation imo. I understand if people will not buy the game now out of principle, i would too (even though i'm waiting for PC anyway). On the other hand, i would caution people against shitting on Shift Up now as if they wanted to do this or as if they "sold out". Like, what did you expect them to do? Throw away 5 years worth of resources and hard work? Or just paint over some boobs like Soyny told them to and release the game? Remember, this call for censorship seems to be on extremely short notice, to the point even review copies were uncensored. This shit reminds me of the Senran Kagura 7 situation. From what i heard the dev also got told to censor right before release. That guy said no and it killed Senran Kagura as a franchise. Would you prefer that instead? Maybe it's a tactic from some SJW management trying to destroy these games.

Grummz has this to say and i have to agree.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1783521114683265049

Basically, don't shoot your own people in the back because they couldn't give you 100% of the result you wanted. That's not how the real world works. Shift Up probably fought tooth and nail to keep as much of their vision as they can, against Soyny's guidelines. If they didn't do this, they might have had to cancel the game last minute. We fought so long for a piece of the pie and now we got the whole pie. We can't throw it away because some fcker took a bite out of it. One thing's for sure, Shift Up better learn their lesson and not bind themselves to Soyny next time (Now that they have the resources to choose).

TLDR: Stellar Blade could not escape Soyny's censorship like people were hoping for but they tried. Buy the game if you want Shift Up to have the money to make more games like it. If not, wait for the potential uncensored version on PC and support them then.

PS: I realize my post sounds a bit negative, but i did see some "fck Shift Up" sentiment on Twitter so.

 

[Ebicentre]

I always thought the hype over this game was strange. Anybody with principles would have boycotted the PS5 after Sony went crazy and moved Playstation to America and started censoring everything, so who are these people with a PS5 who suddenly care about getting an uncensored game?

Some of them are only in it for console war bullshit. I've seen it a lot on Twitter.

Other groups, like the conservative/right-wing YouTubers, saw the game as an opportunity to expand their brands. It's kind of annoying, but you can hardly blame them; it's their jobs.

I think the bulk of SB's fanbase is comprised of people who are barely tuned into the larger culture war, only to the extent they like fanservice games and want them to come back. They're not interested in boycotts because they still believe giving money to the enemy will somehow change their minds. It's completely naïve in this current climate, but you'll never change the minds of people who want to recuperate their investments no matter what. All they have now is copium.

 

[JX475]

If i am to to be honest, i would not buy a PS5 because of Stellar Blade like these people who thought this game would change the foundation, but to send a message on sells, these games SELL they are in high demand and always will be. I will say that the comments i have read on various forums, various social media were wildly the dumbest takes in modern history "Korea is the New Japan" "both Korea and Japan know how to do fanservice" "Korea makes fanservice games Japan does not" not because i am a Japan First country at heart, which i am, not because i hold bias which i do. But it's because i understand that the main problem is that it has to go through the American branch, who are a bunch of people who do not respect beauty as apart of a culture or something people would like. It scares them to their core it even exists. They censor it no matter which Asian country brings it west, due to the structure that is censoring it as a whole it was never going be uncensored, but it's as close as we get with an uncensored game that has pushed the boundary.

Also let me just say that anyone who thinks Korea can do anything Japan does or better, Korean companies tend to pump and dump their games, they show a great tech demo, then sell it to the highest bidder who will then ruin it right afterwards which Shift Up did with Sony, they followed this to a T by selling it out a month before because Korea does not have any care for culture or entertainment, they just care how many people will fall for their scam before moving onto the next one. They sell out as well and do not care about long term viability.

Sony Of Japan and Sony Of America are in a tug of war right now, i do not think Sony is back or any wild dumb idea like that. But they need to move that branch to Japan and Stellar Blade needs the sells to show that these games actually do make money and now they do have money but the complaints can now be mainstream enough to tell Sony Executives that it is selling really well, but it is tanking their brand due to selling a lie that this was uncensored and that this is the Sony Of America branches fault. This in turn will help make the easy decision to move the HQ back to Japan because they made a lot of money, they had not only a lot of mainstream attention, but it failed because the key thing everyone has harped on. It's because the censorship the obvious thing that is tanking the brand and the game.

I do genuinely hope for an uncensored version to come to PC, and also i do appreciate the effort of them trying which is why even though they are Korean and i am Pro Japan i can respect the effort. We will need to see what happens next with Totoki, who wins out on the Branch Wars and the Policies Sony has in place, it should be interesting.

 

[Ebicentre]

Hyung-Tae Kim responded to the censorship. Might be a translation issue, but it's hard to decipher some of his answer.

Spoiler: translation

Spoiler: original Korean

EDIT:

Apparently, YouTuber Vara Dark tried to get an interview with Hyung-Tae Kim, but she's blacklisted by Sony PR for criticizing their censorship policy. Not sure how true it is, but figured I should add it.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1783587914196079075

 

[Rama]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1783855687891636400

Hmm, so he basically says that the final version of those costumes is the day 1 patch version. Which doesn't make sense to me because why would you ship review copies and physical copies out with perfect "incomplete" costumes, only to "finalize" them later on with a bad paint job? Shouldn't costumes be finalized way before printing? Sounds to me like: Sony made us do it but i can't tell you that because we signed an NDA and they got us by the balls.

Then he said he knows this answer will not convince the users (no shit lol) and they are talking internally about this.

 

[Xephavitos]

Apparently even gore is censored now. Thanks for reminding me I should never get hyped for a new game release ever again:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1783840189649232349

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1783848436048986615

 

[anru]

In a disappointing move that should surprise absolutely no-one, Sony decided to ruin the only good thing they had going for the PS5, by censoring Shift Up's Stellar Blade right before the official release date.​

21st APRIL 2024​

The official Stellar Blade Twitter account posted the following message (archive here):

Spoiler: quote

「Stellar Blade」 offers the same uncensored version in all countries, including the Japanese version. ステラブレードは、日本版を含むすべての国で検閲されていない同じバージョンを提供しています。 #StellarBlade #PS5 #Uncensored

Three days later, however, it turns out that was a lie - thanks to Sony's intervention.

24th APRIL 2024​

It turns out Lance McDonald (allegedly) and the mainstream media coordinated a hit-piece on Stellar Blade for unintentionally placing a 'HARD' graffiti texture next to the letter R. The Day 1 patch replaces the graffiti with 'CRIME' instead.

Spoiler: 1.0

Spoiler: Day 1 patch

26th APRIL 2024​

Former WoW developer Mark Kern shared information on his Twitter account, documenting changes found by players who owned review copies of Stellar Blade (archive here). Eve's swimsuit seems to have been the most affected by Sony.

Spoiler: screenshots

In related news, IGN Japan interviewed Yoko Taro (of NieR:Automata fame) and Creative Director Hyung-Tae Kim, where they talked about each other's games. Taro asked Kim a question that caused an interesting reaction (translated).

WHAT'S THE TAKEAWAY AS OF 26/04/2024?​

• Sony are lying scumbags who deserve to go bankrupt
• The only uncensored version of Stellar Blade to now exist is the 1.0 physical disc
• There is no confirmation of a PC release later down the line (therefore, no mods)
• This man is probably the person responsible for the censorship

Spoiler: Head of Global Third Party Relations

View attachment 18346

It's extremely lucrative for video-game companies to hype up a product, only to then water it down the second it gets any real exposure in order to maximize on E.S.G social credit points and the initial customer hype money. The fact that anyone thought otherwise indicates a lack of foresight on their part.

 

[Jun]

I am proud to say I own NO console besides my Gameboy Advance SP. No money for these swines.
I hoped Sony would listen finally to logic and let devs express themselves. Well, for me they are gone rotten.
Wait for the PC release and mods, since I expect the censorship to remain.

I am wondering if this can be sued for false/misleading advertising. This is bait and switch.

 

[PhantomXero1x]

Mental illness runs sony honestly and when the inmates run the asylum thats when things start to collapse.

 

[Gondolindrim]

Well I sure hope the troons are fucking happy. All they wanted was to ruin Stellar Blade for everyone and they seem to have gotten their wish.

 

[sunofpearl89]

I am so glad I noped out of this current console generation entirely. Dodged a bullet and a half. If I was smarter, I'd have never picked up a PS4 back when it released because the writing was already on the wall by then. But whatever ho.

 

[JX475]

I am so glad I noped out of this current console generation entirely. Dodged a bullet and a half. If I was smarter, I'd have never picked up a PS4 back when it released because the writing was already on the wall by then. But whatever ho.

I feel the same way you do. PS3 still is the best generation of Sony we ever had. M.A.G, Fat Princess, Flower, etc you even had the Vita with Danganronpa and Persona 4 Golden literally breaking out as the seller of the handheld. Do not forget the great 3rd parties with Neptunia and Freedom Wars.

PS4 felt like a bait and switch for everyone because just as Japanese Companies gave us Nier and Like A Dragon Zero, Senran Kagura they were turning the corner after a decade of being behind. Mid generation the rug was pulled and the HQ was moved to California due to how poorly the Vita sold.

 

[Azur_Fenix]

In a disappointing move that should surprise absolutely no-one, Sony decided to ruin the only good thing they had going for the PS5, by censoring Shift Up's Stellar Blade right before the official release date.​

21st APRIL 2024​

The official Stellar Blade Twitter account posted the following message (archive here):

Spoiler: quote

「Stellar Blade」 offers the same uncensored version in all countries, including the Japanese version. ステラブレードは、日本版を含むすべての国で検閲されていない同じバージョンを提供しています。 #StellarBlade #PS5 #Uncensored

Three days later, however, it turns out that was a lie - thanks to Sony's intervention.

24th APRIL 2024​

It turns out Lance McDonald (allegedly) and the mainstream media coordinated a hit-piece on Stellar Blade for unintentionally placing a 'HARD' graffiti texture next to the letter R. The Day 1 patch replaces the graffiti with 'CRIME' instead.

Spoiler: 1.0

Spoiler: Day 1 patch

26th APRIL 2024​

Former WoW developer Mark Kern shared information on his Twitter account, documenting changes found by players who owned review copies of Stellar Blade (archive here). Eve's swimsuit seems to have been the most affected by Sony.

Spoiler: screenshots

In related news, IGN Japan interviewed Yoko Taro (of NieR:Automata fame) and Creative Director Hyung-Tae Kim, where they talked about each other's games. Taro asked Kim a question that caused an interesting reaction (translated).

WHAT'S THE TAKEAWAY AS OF 26/04/2024?​

• Sony are lying scumbags who deserve to go bankrupt
• The only uncensored version of Stellar Blade to now exist is the 1.0 physical disc
• There is no confirmation of a PC release later down the line (therefore, no mods)
• This man is probably the person responsible for the censorship

Spoiler: Head of Global Third Party Relations

View attachment 18346

Only option now that I will be satisfied with is the universal harassment of this tranny POS till they kill themselves.

 

[Tsetskhli776]

North Americans will do North American things, not really surprising.
Even if this game comes to PC, there's no guarantee that it will not be censored either, who knows.
Seems to me the best way to play this game, for those who don't want to wait, is to get a physical copy and play it in an PS5 that never will connect to the internet.

 

[PhantomXero1x]

Well I sure hope the troons are fucking happy. All they wanted was to ruin Stellar Blade for everyone and they seem to have gotten their wish.

Troons are never happy in the first place you have to remember these people are walking statistics for unaliving themselves and also the amount of projection they have for others over their own weird fetishes is super weird.

 

[Hexasheep93]

Now this is going to be a very unpopular post, but I think that, if you have the means ie. already own a ps5, you should still get the game.

Yeah I know it feels like cowtowing to sony's nonsense. But the truth is that even with the missing stuff, it is still miles better than what we have been getting lately. 3 steps forward and one step back its still forward imo.

I know being uncompromising may seem like the best approach, but sometimes pragmatism needs to come before idealism.