I don't think that Dispatch is being censored on Switch due to Nintendo's policies. I think it's being censored by CERO, Japan's equivalent to the ESRB or PEGI.
I don't think it has anything to do with the game's art style as speculated.
To understand this, we need to understand two other things.
- CERO is more strict than the ESRB or PEGI
CERO's rules involving nudity and violence are much more strict than the rules for the ESRB and PEGI. While nudity is allowed in ESRB M and PEGI 18 games, CERO's equivalent D and Z ratings strictly do not allow any female nipples or genitals to appear in a game in any context, even when rated for 18+ audiences. They also don't allow any dismemberment or decapitation.
For more info on CERO's code of ethics see here (available in English)
- AdHoc likely chose to publish their game as a "universal binary"
Long-term Switch owners are likely familiar with the fact that some games are the same no matter which country you buy them from and some games aren't. This is because publishers can choose to release their games either as one file for the whole world, or separate files for different countries. AdHoc is an indie studio, so they likely chose to just make one version to release worldwide. It costs more money to release and maintain a separate version for Japan. In order to comply with CERO and also release just a single binary, censorship is necessary.
Noteworthy, Cyberpunk does this. CDPR sells a separate version of the game in Japan with a CERO Z rating that censors the nudity and removes some gore.
Also note that unlike PEGI and the ESRB, CERO only rates console games.
The only thing that is confusing in this whole thing is how (and if) it is uncensored on PS5. I haven't seen any news about this yet either way.
My guess is that binary distribution works differently on PS5 and publishers are required to submit different regional binaries no matter what. Hopefully someone with more insight into publishing a game on PS5 can jump in the comments.
EDIT: PS5 mystery likely solved.
The PS5 version of the game released in Japan today along with the Switch version. They would have had to create a new Japanese binary for the Japanese PS5 release anyways
by razorbeamz
17 Comments
Possible. My issue lies with the developer not disclosing this or at least being more transparent about it prior to release.
This is accurate for CERO and Anime (for the most part).
Japanese video games don’t show any nudity even in D/Z Games and in anime they show nipples sometimes but they don’t show any genitalia (both male & female).
This is most likely true and only means that should have only censored it in Japan
If this is true, it’s lazy and still scummy of them to hide it
Was this game not released in Japan before the Switch release?
>The only thing that is confusing in this whole thing is how (and if) it is uncensored on PS5. I haven’t seen any news about this yet either way.
The PS5 version is not censored at all, but it instead gives you the option to censor it if you want.
Edit: Sorry, I assumed you were talking about the western release. I don’t know if the PS5 version is censored by default in Japan.
AdHoc is oddly vague about their statement about this censorship. And let’s be real, since the Switch, it wasn’t Nintendo who actively censored stuff but Sony.
The game released in Japan on other platforms already, so CERO doesn’t work there has to be more to this story AdHoc isn’t telling.
Of all the games Nintendo actively didn’t censor, they are supposed to draw the line here? Something doesn’t add up.
Unless CERO didn’t look at the other versions but did now for the Switch release. Either way, AdHoc has to be more transparent
With Cyberpunk being censored only in Japan I do have a feeling it might be on CERO and ultimately it could just be that AdHoc couldn’t afford to submit entirely separate Switch/2 versions for different regions like CDPR could.
Either way as other people have mentioned, it’s still scummy that they chose to wait until release day to inform everyone after pre-orders had already gone through. That’s borderline false advertising and lying by omission.
Hopefully the backlash causes them to reconsider and possibly undo this though.
You are completely wrong, if you look up “Nintendo censorship guidelines change”, you’ll see that Nintendo is censoring and cancelling games that release on other platforms for a few years by now. They even censor or cancel simple remasters or ports of the games that previously had already released on Nintendo platforms like Neptunia and Corpse Party. How is this not common knowledge?
So all the resident evil games are censored in Japan?
Honest question, this game has nudity? I was not aware.
As someone who has zero interest in playing this game, I find this whole discourse regarding the Nintendo version being censored fascinating.
I appreciate your comment, OP, as it sheds some light into the real-world logistics of releasing a game on multiple platforms within different regions of the world. Ratings boards across the globe are all different and some have a more stringent guidelines for content and, by extension, censorship than others.
It’s wild that so many have been quick to bash Nintendo specifically for the change here while the studio itself waited until the last minute to announce the censorship changes, and only after taking pre-order purchases. The studio had to know this was the case from the get-go and, as you pointed out, the absence of any clarification from them is weird regarding what specific policy is causing them to release it in all regions as a censored product. The CERO guidelines for content in Japan, coupled with the prohibitive cost of publishing multiple versions of the game to provide less censored versions for other markets, seems to be the likely issue here. Seems the studio was content pushing the one Nintendo version that would be accepted in all regions, and that was that.
This is a neat case that gives some insight into how game releases work and how the communication around differences in release versions makes a difference in public perception. Neat stuff.
Edit: spelling
We need to pressure them studio to change it back
The specifics don’t really matter though, not to me as the consumer.
The PC version now offers me:
* No censorship.
* Cheaper price.
* Faster updates.
The downside is, as I don’t have a Steam Deck, no portability.
So the moment I don’t want to play to play this game while out and about, the PC version has only upsides, and importantly they now include one that is about the **content** of the game itself.
Yeah no, I got enough games to play while mobile. I don’t need this on Switch. Sorry devs.
Reading this comments, people are mad bc they don’t understand fully what’s going on. It’s been like this for years for literally every other game released in Japan. Listen to yourselves, you’re complaining bc you can’t see half a nipple in a video game that you’ve likely played already. It isn’t removing anything from the actual gameplay and story even if you haven’t. I seriously don’t get the big deal.
That’s certainly weird all things considered… Ah well, Cero’s censorship policies only extending to consoles tho should make the PC’s an attractive proposition still even for Japanese games that otherwise would’ve been hit by censorship otherwise.
Can anyone guess if there’s any chance they’ll reverse this decision and have the full game? I know it’s stupid but i haven’t cancelled my preorder yet i just wanna know it’s pointless and if should go ahead and cancel it
Nintendo has new content policies. It started last year. Neptunia rebirth and death end request 3 straight up had to be cancelled along with a lot of other games. Corpse party as well couldnt be released and had to be cancelled after being announced cause of the new content policies. Hundred line last defense academy is censored on switch and not steam and doesnt even have nudity. Asia has less restrictive censorship for now but even stuff like tokyo clanpool had to get toned down for the switch port there cause of the mini game. Im sure nintendo can grant exceptions if they wanted but they are absolutely cracking down and have been for slowly rolling out changes since 2023.