Japanese video game ratings agency CERO has come forward with more explanation as to why their rating for upcoming horror FPS The Callisto Protocol led to the game being cancelled from release in Japan.

When we first reported Krafton’s decision to cancel the Japanese release, what we knew at the time was that the agency was quite harsh when it came to their rating of adult games. Many major titles in the West, such as The Last Of Us, Cyberpunk, Uncharted 1, Witcher 3, and GTA V have also fallen afoul of the regulator’s harsh ratings.

What video game companies usually do to deal with CERO’s ratings is to make one heavily censored version of the game, and one which has as much of the original game in it as possible. However, even games that fall under the most permissive “Z” rating have to have some content removed if it does not comply with Japanese laws. This Z rating is the CERO’s equivalent of the ESRB’s AO or Adults Only rating, applied to games that are prohibited to sale to adults. Interestingly enough, whereas an AO rating is usually considered a branding for the death of a video game in America, in Japan it’s the Z rated games imported from America that sell the best.

Now, CERO had to explain their side to Japanese consumers, after they were barraged with questions about why they could not play the game. CERO first clarifies that the ratings are a voluntary industry regulation. This is once again, very similar to the arrangement with the ESRB. Unfortunately, that also means the voluntary designation does not mean much in either America or Japan, since retailers will take those ratings and act to sell or stock video games with prohibitive ratings accordingly. They also reveal that they went through 1800 reviews over the past year, and those games were played by 25 million Japanese gamers.

Among CERO’s considerations when making their ratings are the age of the people who usually play video games, the content found in these games, and the potential impact that these games would have particularly on younger players. When they were asked about specifics on the criteria used to determine ratings, CERO revealed that different people will react to the same scene and depiction in a game differently. What this means is that the ratings system does leave a lot to interpretation of the raters. CERO promises to keep listening to the public to match their expectations.

Going back to the original report, it should be noted that Krafton could have done what other publishers did and make two versions of their game, as a loophole of sorts to the system set up by CERO and video game retailers. Krafton’s choice not to publish means the integrity of the game’s story stays, but at the expense of allowing Japanese gamers to play them. While it’s unfortunate one country won’t get to play The Callisto Protocol, it is not entirely unusual for creators to have also done this with their books or movies or other media, that were also provisionally banned or censored in some parts of the world.

The Callisto Protocol will be released on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on December 2, 2022.

Source: Twisted Voxel