The long-awaited survival horror game The Callisto Protocol developer, Striking Distance, announced on Twitter that Japan’s strict censorship regulations had forced the cancellation of the game’s release there. Players who already pre-ordered the game in Japan will receive refunds.
It is a survival horror video game with a compelling story that draws its inspiration from Dead Space. The protagonist of the game battles a number of monsters in space prisons in order to offer gamers a unique experience. Additionally, it claims to have bloody death scenes and body horror caused by mutations.
The Callisto Protocol developers don’t want to compromise player’s experience
The Callisto Protocol Japan was reportedly rejected by CERO due to concerns regarding its brutality and bloody violence. Striking Distance wrote a message indicating that it would not be heeding CERO’s requests to remove or change specific content.
Addressing the Japanese fans who had already placed a pre-order for the game, they said, “We apologize to each and every fan in Japan for the inconvenience. Pre-orders for the Japanese version will all be promptly refunded.”
The game cannot be launched in Japan, according to the rating agency CERO, unless the creators make changes and request a re-submission. Games can be updated to comply with the requirements of the rating board, giving company choices if a rating has been rejected for a game. Developers are also permitted to apply again even after the rejection.
The firm decided against canceling the game, rather than putting in additional effort to conform the game to the criteria. According to the game’s developers, the decision to cancel was taken because any changes would compromise the user experience. For this reason, they ultimately decided to abandon the release in Japan.
The Callisto Protocol is set to be released later this year on 2nd December for fans in countries like the US and the UK. It has received the necessary ratings and will be available on all major platforms, including the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.
