Censorship wasn’t a big issue in the gaming community in the past; However, as games started to traverse the oceans into various regions around the world, minor changes are always seen here and there to make sure they don’t offend the local culture. This is the case with censorship in Blue Protocol, Bandai Namco and Amazon Games’ latest title. With the game set to release soon in the West, Amazon Games has brought on some minute changes to help with localisation. The community, however, doesn’t have it.
Also Read: Eminem Takes Centre Stage in Fortnite’s Chapter 4 Finale Big Bang Event
What Is Censorship and Effects of Censorship in Blue Protocol?
This word might be new to some gamers who haven’t come across this phenomenon all too often. Censorship basically means the removal or suppression of parts of any type of media that are considered to be obscene. This is often subjective to each country’s laws regarding games, songs, or any type of artistic expression. It can be done on an international, national, district, or even community level.
If we’re talking about censorship relating to the gaming community, it’s usually done to give the game a lower rating in terms of the age of players. This helps the game appeal to a wider base of players for example, E for Everyone can be played by anyone who has bought the game, and no supervision is required, while on the other hand, A for Adults Only can only be played by players who are older than 18 years of age.
This is exactly the reason given by Mike Zadorojny, the franchise lead with Amazon games. We’ll talk more about his role in censorship in Blue Protocol later. However, you must be thinking of how the entire censorship phenomenon has affected the release of the Blue Protocol in the West. Well, to make the game more accessible and localise it to the Western region, Bandai Namco and Amazon Games have decided to remove the “Physics shake” and make the outfits for some characters less revealing. We’ll talk about this in more detail ahead.
Also Read: The Walking Dead: Destinies | 8 Best Characters to Use and Supported Platforms
Amazon Games’ Comment on Censorship in Blue Protocol
As we mentioned before, franchise lead Mike Zadorojny clarified their stance on censorship in Blue Protocol in an interview with the fan website Blue Protocol Database. In the interview, he was asked if the laws surrounding censorship in the West would affect the gameplay and aesthetics in Blue Protocol, especially considering they were hoping to reach out to a broader fan base.
The franchise lead started by stating what the developers’ vision was for Blue Protocol, what they wanted to achieve, and what type of game they wanted to release to the public. With the Western region having heavier censorship laws from a regulatory and cultural standpoint, the developers had to ask themselves how they could incorporate these changes without affecting the main essence of the game.
Amazon Games targeted two major points within the game, things which were much more accepted in Japan but might cause issues for them in the West. These included the “Physics shake” button and female characters’ outfits, which were considered too revealing. He mentioned that, since this is an anime game, they were targeting a T-rating, which means it is playable by teens without the need for adult supervision. He reiterated that the censorship in Blue Protocol was in no way going to affect the gameplay or core aspects of the game.
Why Does Amazon Games Include Censorship?
Why do they need to include censorship in Blue Protocol? It’s simple, really: They want the game to sell more and are targeting a younger audience as compared to other games like Baldur’s Gate 3, for example. Baldur’s Gate 3 has an M-rating, meaning mature and is suitable for players above 17 years of age, which is why they can include any type of mature content they please.
Now, moving on to the first part of the title, have Amazon Games done this before? The answer is yes, Amazon Games have added censorship in other games before, Lost Ark being a good example. The Korean RPG had a plethora of changes made when it was released globally in comparison to when it was released in Korea. These were, again, just visual changes like covering up overly-revealing outfits and a few other minor changes. Nothing to impact the gameplay or storyline since that would give global players a watered-down version.
Also Read: The Last Faith Bosses: Complete List, Gameplay Guide, and Tips
Parting Thoughts
Whether the censorship in Blue Protocol is fair or not is up for debate on Reddit threads, but Amazon Games is seemingly set on implementing these changes. For those offended by these changes, it looks like there will be no other way than to just forget about it since the release date for Blue Protocol is already drawing closer. However, censored or not, keep in mind that there won’t be any difference in gameplay for Japanese and Western players, so it’s not that big of a deal.