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‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ is so gory, Japan has censored the game

'Assassin's Creed Shadows' Yasuke.

Despite getting an 18+ rating, Assassin’s Creed Shadows will still be censored for its Japanese launch later this year.

  • READ MORE: ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ is the game fans have been asking for

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is due for release March 20, 2025 and based on early previews, fans can expect a bloody, brutal samurai adventure.

The game has already received a CERO Z rating in Japan, meaning gamers must be 18 years or older to purchase it, but now developers Ubisoft have announced they’ve also been forced to make changes to the gore in the game before it can be released. 

“Regarding Assassin’s Creed: Shadows (CERO: Z), there are some differences in the in-game content of the version sold in Japan in order to comply with the regulations of the reviewing organization,” Ubisoft said in a statement (via Video Game Chronicle).

“The option to switch dismemberment on and off has been removed from the game settings, and now dismembering the heads and limbs of enemies while playing is permanently disabled. The way severed body parts are depicted has also been changed.”

Some of the Japanese dialogue will also be changed but Ubisoft has yet to confirm why. 

“Don’t be fooled by the blossom in the air; there will be blood,” said NME in a hands-on preview of the game. “In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll face down ranks of ghoul-faced samurai, hellbent on skewering the most heroic of mentors on their katanas like wisdom-spouting shish kebabs. You’ll also roar into battles of shinobi clansmen, gruesomely stomping and beheading enemies like Mortal Kombat gone rogue and, in the style of a murderous mosquito, scale pagoda towers to launch death strikes from above on unsuspecting Templar kingpins.”

In other news, fans have been paying tribute to long-running The Simpsons mobile game Tapped Out, which was shut down over the weekend after 12 years.

The post ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ is so gory, Japan has censored the game appeared first on NME.