Update and Correction:
Yagyu4k reached out to us and clarified his position in relation to Marvelous. The position of CA means Community Affiliate and essentially he sometimes works with them to test out and bounce around ideas. He works for the indie developer Igrasil Studio who are releasing a visual novel later this year. He has not previously worked for Marvelous, though he has a very good relationship with them. We have updated the article below to reflect this and apologize for this error.
Original Story:
A Marvelous Japan Community Affiliate is asking Sony to lighten it's current and surprising trend towards censoring Japanese games. The community affiliate, known as "yagyu4k" on Twitter, started a Change.org petition in the hopes of drawing attention to Sony's alarming tack towards censoring localized games. The twitter bio for yagyu4k describes them as a "CA for Marvelous Games," which means Community Affiliate as described in the update above. The full tweet announcing the petition is as follows:
https://twitter.com/yagyu4k/status/1052159626890764288
In case you're unfamiliar with Sony's sudden change in position, we'll give you a quick refresher. Almost two weeks ago, localization studio XSEED Games announced that the PS4 version of Senran Kagura Burst: Re:Newal would be delayed, due to Sony taking issue with the "hands-on" Intimacy Mode. This mode allows you to pose and otherwise "interact" with the Senran Kagura girls via the controller. The Steam version of Burst Re:Newal is set to launch with the mode intact. Even though some members of the XSEED team thought the mode was tasteless, they still included it regardless. The ESRB rated Senran Kagura Burst: Re:Newal with the mode intact, though it's unlikely that removing the mode would change the awarded Mature rating.
Additionally, earlier this year, British publisher PQube also ran afoul of Sony's more stringent guidelines when they attempted to bring Omega Labyrinth Z to the West. Here, Omega Labyrinth Z had already been refused classification, so the localization cancellation didn't come as a terribly large surprise. Perhaps in response to Sony's move to block the Omega Labyrinth Z release, D3 Publisher has opted instead to release Omega Labyrinth Life on the Switch, with D3 hoping to secure a Western release.
Still, Japanese developers have been pushing the boundaries as to what is accepted on Sony's platform for years. You may recall a certain Monster Monpiece, released for the Vita and PC, where you could interact with your female fighters by rubbing on the Vita's touchscreen. Alternatively, consider the Gal*Gun games, where girls erotically react after you blast demons out of their body using your trusty "Pheremone Blaster." Both series struggled to see releases in Europe and Australia but still made it to American shores without any major changes. Indeed, the petition argues that Western series such as The Witcher were released on Sony platforms earlier without incident.
Whether Sony's recent change is Sony pushing back against developers or some other external influence, it's hard to say at this time. With many developers looking toward releasing games on traditional consoles, PCs and Nintendo's wildly successful Switch, this could well lead to developers looking to expand their market and release games outside of Sony's influence. With the impending release of Senran Kagura Burst: Re:Newal both censored and uncensored, we'll see just how well Sony's trend towards a less lewd and lascivious platform pays off.
