Japanese ratings board demands changes to Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be censored in Japan when it releases in March 2025.

As detailed by developer/publisher Ubisoft in a statement, there will be “differences in content” between the Japanese edition and the versions available overseas despite the game securing a CERO Z rating, the equivalent of a mature/18+ classification.

Japan’s rating board, CERO, confirmed that whilst players in Europe and North America will be able to toggle amputation on/off, for Japanese players “the option to switch amputation on/off from the game settings has been removed” and “amputating the neck and limbs of enemies during gameplay is now always impossible.”

CERO also required Ubisoft to amend how severed body parts are presented in-game in order to authorise Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ Japanese release.

CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 was also heavily censored in Japan.