Assassin’s Creed: Shadows will be releasing in Japan with censored graphics in order to appease the country’s CERO ratings board.
To their credit, the company announced the changes in order to inform players ahead of the game’s release. The announcement was made on Ubisoft’s official Japanese X account.
『アサシン クリード シャドウズ』海外版(北米・欧州)と日本版 表現差異について#AssassinsCreedShadows pic.twitter.com/v3XrcppwMf
— Ubisoft Japan (@UBISOFT_JAPAN) January 24, 2025
Big changes include the removal of the option to turn gore and amputations off or on, with the Japanese version being unable to show such violence.
The announcement also includes a cryptic line stating: “Some of the Japanese audio played in the overseas versions (North America and Europe) has been changed.” (Translation: Google)
It’s unclear what Ubisoft means by this. Since Assassin’s Creed: Shadows was announced, players have been critical of the Ubisoft’s alleged commitment to historical accuracy with some of that criticism coming from Japan.
Speculatively, the changes in the Japanese version may be done to obfuscate any creative liberties taken from Japanese audiences who may know Japanese history better than western fans.
Situations like this make it important to remember that while the west is more trigger-happy with censorship (especially when it comes to anything sexually provocative), Japan has its own problems with censoring violence.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to launch on March 20, 2025 across Windows PC (via the Ubisoft Store), Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Amazon Luna.