Capcom has confirmed that Resident Evil Village will be censored in Japan, following speculation that it wouldn’t be as bloody as the international versions of the game. The Resident Evil series has been censored in different countries on numerous occasions over the years, due to its violent content and the latest installment appears to be following that trend.
Some countries have far stricter rules regarding adult content in video games, with Australia being notorious for banning games outright. Japan’s CERO rating board is also strict in comparison to similar organizations, like the ESRB in North America and PEGI in Europe. Console games require a CERO rating in Japan in order to be sold and they face harsher scrutiny than international versions of the same games. As such, even though games in the Resident Evil series are developed in Japan, they aren’t always as gory as the ones released in Europe or North America.
Resident Evil Village will be released in May and Capcom has discussed the adult content in the game. A post on the official Capcom website has laid out the differences between the domestic and international versions of the game. According to Alex Aniel of Limited Run Games on Twitter, the Japanese version of Resident Evil Village will feature less blood and it won’t have any decapitation scenes.
There will two versions of Resident Evil Village in Japan. One version of the game will have a D rating (17 and up) and the other will have a Z rating (18 and up). Capcom didn’t explain what the exact difference between the two versions was, but it’s likely that the Z version will have more gore, but it still won’t include any decapitations. Violence isn’t a measure of quality and Resident Evil Village can still be incredible, even without dismemberment.
This level of censorship is common throughout the Resident Evil series, especially in regards to decapitation. The gory scenes in Resident Evil 4 where Leon had his head removed by a chainsaw-wielding enemy were also absent in the Japanese versions of the game. If the rumored Resident Evil 4 remake is on the way, then it’s likely that these scenes will still be censored in Japan. The international versions of Resident Evil Village will be uncensored, barring any future announcements from Capcom that say otherwise.
Resident Evil Village hits store shelves on May 7 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
