In a bid to fight back against censorship, over 45,000 gamers have signed a petition titled ‘Free Stellar Blade’ with calls for the developer to revert changes to a character’s outfit.
Stellar Blade is a newly released action-adventure video game that has been developed by Shift Up and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Currently, it’s only available on PS5.
The petition went live on Friday 26 April and it’s now just 5,000 signatures away from reaching its next goal of 50,000 people. To support the cause, gamers have left video responses to cite the reasons why they’re passionate about the changes being revoked.
The Stellar Blade team took to the X social media platform ahead of the release to proudly share that the game will be an ‘uncensored version in all countries, including the Japanese version.”
「Stellar Blade」 offers the same uncensored version in all countries, including the Japanese version.
ステラブレードは、日本版を含むすべての国で検閲されていない同じバージョンを提供しています。#StellarBlade #PS5 #Uncensored pic.twitter.com/dJojSgZH9y
— StellarBlade (@StellarBlade) April 21, 2024
Since then, some censorship of EVE’s outfits has taken place which has prompted some gamers to sign the petition. The changes are small but result in the character’s clothing providing more coverage than the uncensored version.
Free Stellar Blade petition to be delivered to developers
Mark Kern, a former video game executive who used to work for Blizzard Entertainment, started the campaign and explained why this petition matters to him: “…The content has been censored from the original trailer version posted by Sony.
“We, as gamers, want this content back. We relied on it, we made the game the #1 pre-order worldwide because of it, and this is the true game we want.”
He goes on to describe the game as being a ‘cultural beacon for freedom of expression’ at a time when he says Sony is ‘censoring games more than ever.’
“…But for reasons unknown, the game was censored, changes were made. What we received after our good faith purchase was not the same as advertised.”
Kern explains how the petition will be printed in Korea and delivered in Korea to the Shift Up offices. It will also be delivered to Sony PlayStation in North America.
In the ‘reasons for signing’ section, gamers have expressed their concerns about ongoing censorship and have explained why they’re marking their name in the appeal.
One person said: “This game was the only bright spot in a sea of man-ish female protagonists. Please don’t steal beauty from us!”
While another suggested false advertisement has taken place: “Stellar Blade was advertised as being an uncensored product.
“Sony, however, has forced the developer to censor the game and, as a result, are selling a different product than was advertised.”
Featured Image: Stellar Blade
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