To fight back against censorship, over 45,000 players have signed a petition called “Free Stellar Blade,” asking the developer to revert changes to a character’s outfit.
Stellar Blade is a newly released action-adventure video game developed by Shift Up and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Currently it is only available on PS5.
The petition was launched on Friday, April 26th and is just 5,000 signatures away from reaching its next goal of 50,000 people. To support the cause, players have left video responses sharing the reasons why they are so excited about the changes being repealed.
The Stellar Blade team took to the X social media platform ahead of the release to proudly announce 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.
Stellar Blade offers the same uncensored version in all countries, including the Japanese version.#StellarBlade #PS5 #Uncensored pic.twitter.com/dJojSgZH9y— StellarBlade (@StellarBlade) April 21, 2024
Since then, there has been some censorship of EVE outfits, prompting some players to sign the petition. The changes are minor, but result in the character’s clothing providing more protection than in the uncensored version.
Free Stellar Blade petition to be delivered to developers
Mark Kern, a former video game executive who previously worked for Blizzard Entertainment, started the campaign and explained why this petition is important to him: “…The content of the original trailer version released by Sony was censored.
“We as gamers want this content back. We relied on that, it made the game the #1 pre-order game in the world, and that’s the real game we want.”
He goes on to describe the game as a “cultural beacon of freedom of expression” at a time when Sony is “censoring games more than ever.”
“…But for unknown reasons the game was censored and changes were made. What we received after our good faith purchase was not the same as advertised.”
Kern explains how the petition is printed in Korea and delivered to Shift-Up offices in Korea. It will also ship to Sony PlayStation in North America.
In the “Reasons for Signing” section, players expressed their concerns about the ongoing censorship and explained why they are including their name in the appeal.
One person said: “This game was the only bright spot in a sea of male female protagonists. Please don’t steal our beauty!”
While another suspected false advertisement took place: “Stellar Blade was advertised as an uncensored product.
“However, Sony forced the developer to censor the game and is therefore selling a different product than advertised.”
Featured Image: Stellar Blade