Assassin's Creed Shadows is being censored as it's too gory

Assassin's Creed Shadows is being censored in Japan because its ratings board deemed the game too gory to rate without changes being made.

Ubisoft's latest entry into the iconic Assassin's Creed series is due to release on March 20 after being delayed twice, once from November last year and again from February (the second delay was for a crazy reason).

Early gameplay footage revealed Ubisoft really ramped up how violent the new entry, set in feudal Japan, is; there's decapitations and loads of dismemberment but this can be toggled on and off in the game's settings.

But Ubisoft is scaling this back for the Japanese version of the game.

In a statement posted on X / Twitter, Ubisoft Japan said: "Regarding differences in content between the overseas (North America, Europe) and Japanese versions of Assassin's Creed: Shadows, the version sold in Japan of Assassin's Creed: Shadows (CERO: Z) will have some differences in in-game content in order to comply with the regulations of the certification organisation.

"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."

Further changes include to the "amputated surface of the body" and "the representation of some Japanese voices played in the overseas version (North America and Europe) has been changed".

A number of games have been censored in Japan so they can be released there, with The Last of Us, The Witcher 3 and Resident Evil Village among them.

There is pressure on Assassin's Creed Shadows to perform well for Ubisoft after the studio announced 185 jobs would be slashed in a new round of cuts.

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