The Callisto Protocol was completely canceled in Japan following a dispute between the developer Striking Distance Studios and the Japanese Classification Committee.
Too much violence?
As reported gaming pcStriking Distance announced on Twitter that the current version of The Callisto Protocol cannot pass the milestone of Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO) of Japan in its current form. CERO said it won’t rate the game until its content is changed — likely less violent and brutal, though the two didn’t give details on what content will be changed.
However, Striking Distance, the development studio, does not intend to comply with the demands of the CERO and will not change its game, at least for the moment. Suffice to say that the two parties are at an impasse.
“The Japanese version of The Callisto Protocol has been discontinued. Currently it cannot pass the CERO rating,” Striking Distance said in their tweet, adding that they believe modifying The Callisto Protocol “will not offer not give players the experience they expect”.
The very demanding CERO
Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of the company Kantan Gameswhich consults in the video game industry, wrote a thread on Twitter to explain the rules that games must follow to pass the Japanese classification board.
“The Callisto Protocol release has been canceled in Japan. Local ratings agency CERO did not appreciate the level of violence in the game, and the developer refuses to comply with their demands.” he confirms.
“In the 1990s, Japan was much more lenient when it came to censoring video games. CERO was founded in 2002 and has become stricter over the years.” explains Serkan Toto. “Among the games censored for nudity and violence in Japan are The Last Of Us, Cyberpunk, Uncharted 1, Witcher 3, GTA V, etc. It goes without saying that censorship also affects homemade games. [ndlr : réalisés au Japon]as resident Evilcompared to the western version.”
“It’s also important to understand that sometimes Japanese games get two releases, a cut version and a ‘gore’ version. The gore version usually sells better. The problem is that the gore version, which usually carries CERO’s strictest “Z” rating for 18+ is ALSO censored from the Western version. In other words, avoid the Japanese version of these games at all costs – it is still censored.”