Summary
Stellar Blade’s age rating has prompted a senior Electronics Arts official to throw shade at Japan’s Computer Entertainment Rating Organization. The regulator recently attached a CERO D classification toStellar Blade, which some industry watchers found surprising.
The CERO system’s classification marks go from A through D, and also include a Z rating. The Z mark is equivalent to an ESRB AO orPEGI 18 rating, denoting a game intended for adults only. But unlike many equivalent regulators around the globe, the CERO also commonly refuses to rate games altogether. In that event, the publisher is given a choice between censoring whatever content caused its application to be rejected or accepting what is effectively a nationwide sales ban, at least as far as consoles are concerned.
EA Japan Boss Frustrated With CERO After Stellar Blade Rating
This is precisely what happened with thecritically acclaimedDead Spaceremake, which only ended up launching in Japan via Steam after its CERO rating application was refused on account of its depictions of gore. EA Japan General Manager Shaun Noguchi has recently expressed frustrations with this turn of events, prompted by the fact that the regulator awarded a CERO D rating toStellar Blade, officially deeming it suitable for ages 17 and up.
According to Noguchi, the CERO refused to rateDead Spacedue to its inclusion of “cross-sections of severed body parts and internal organs.” But not only did Shift Up’s upcoming title manage to get rated despite including similar imagery, theuncensored version ofStellar Bladehas even evaded the regulator’s most restrictive, Z classification. “I find this hard to accept,” wrote Noguchi in an April 21 tweet. The EA executive noted that he has thoroughly enjoyed theStellar Bladedemo and has no intention of throwing shade at the game itself, but simply wants to highlight what he perceives is an ambiguous process of obtaining a game age classification in Japan.
Dead Spaceis far from the only horror title that was unable to obtain a CERO rating in recent memory;The Callisto Protocolwas also effectively banned in Japanfor a similar reason in 2022. Even some of Japan’s most iconic horror series, includingResident EvilandSilent Hill, consistently censor their entries for domestic release. Realistic depictions of decapitations are one common reason for the CERO refusing age ratings, as such scenes are universally banned in Japan.
12
15
17
CERO Z
18
The reason whyStellar Blademanaged to obtain a CERO D rating despite its gore may have something to do with the fact that the majority of its violence is aimed at non-humanoid enemies. Ditto for the fact thatDead Space, being a survival horror game, goes to greater lengths to highlight its gore, thus being inherently more graphic.
Stellar Blade
WHERE TO PLAY
RECLAIM EARTH FOR HUMANKIND The future of humanity hangs in the balance in Stellar Blade, an all-new story-driven action adventure. Ravaged by strange, powerful creatures, Earth has been abandoned, and what is left of the decimated human race has fled to a Colony in outer space. After travelling from the Colony, 7th Airborne Squad member EVE arrives on the desolate remains of our planet with a clear-cut mission: to save humankind by reclaiming Earth from the Naytiba – the malevolent force that has devastated it. But as EVE tackles the Naytiba one-by-one, piecing together the mysteries of the past in the ruins of human civilization, she realizes that her mission is far from straightforward. In fact, almost nothing is as it seems…
