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SHIFT UP’s AAA debut title Stellar Blade is facing another wave of controversy as players pointed out changes to several of EVE’s outfits that amount to censorship despite developers’ promises.
The censorship in Stellar Blade came to light when players realized some of the outfits were slightly altered to cover up EVE’s cleavage after a day-one patch was released along the game’s launch.
What people don’t understand is that it’s not about the suits themselves, it’s about the censorship.
Stellar Blade was supposed to make a point, and it has failed miserably at it. pic.twitter.com/Boob7XRXTJ
— El Hamsterrifico (@Hamsterpilled_) April 26, 2024
The most notable one is the Holiday Rabbit swimsuit garment for EVE, which now has a piece of lace covering EVE’s chest, while the coverage on the hips area was also increased.
Another notable one is the Cybernetic Bondage outfit, which also sees more fabric added to cover up more of EVE’s skin.
More proof. The costume is called Cybernetic Bondage pic.twitter.com/RVkWjBlizO
— moertomore (@moertomore) April 25, 2024
The original unaltered outfits can still be found in the unpatched physical version of the game; while pre-release copies handed out to reviewers and content creators were claimed to be already patched with the changes.
Aside from outfit alterations, fans also claimed that the gore has been toned down in the final release, with the demo version spotting far bloodier scenes such as EVE getting soaked in blood after finishing the Abanddon boss off.
It looks like Stellar Blade may have censored the blood splatter as well. This is so fucking disappointing. How stupid must they think we are that they could promise no censorship and we wouldn’t notice all of this?
Tagging @Grummz for visibility. pic.twitter.com/XpavyFfz6V
— Aurondarklord #FreeStellarBlade (@auronburner) April 26, 2024
While these outfits are still enormously revealing, many fans felt that they had been misled as developer SHIFT UP promised that the game would be uncensored in all regions before launch.
Some players were also accusing the publisher PlayStation, theorizing that they may have pushed the censorship onto the game, with many citing the company’s past releases as examples.
In fighting the censorship, players have even launched a petition as well as a social media campaign with the hashtag #FreeStellarBlade, to ask developers to release the uncensored outfits, which has now garnered over 40,000 signatures as of writing.
In a response made during the game’s launch event, Stellar Blade game director and SHIFT UP CEO Hyung-Tae Kim addressed the censorship, stating:
“Understandably we also recognize about the issue. However, the final costume that we wanted to show you is indeed the costume in version 1.0.0.2. I want to clarify that is our final product. However, I know this answer is not enough to convice our users. There is an internal discussion ongoing regarding this. So I think we’ll have a chance to answer it soon.”
Director’s answer to the change in the outfit[VIDEO]
byu/HeavyMachinegan instellarblade
While groups of players were satisfied with the answers, many were still not convinced and believed that the changes made were never the final vision.
For now, players could only wait for an update from the developers on whether they would revert the changes or add the unaltered versions back as additional outfits, given the backlash.
As mentioned, you could still play the game with the unaltered outfits by simply not updating your physical copy of Stellar Blade.
