A few days ago Wired Productionseditor of Martha is Deadannounced a news as important as it is disconcerting: his video game, due out soon, was a victim of censorship by Sony. Let’s find out all the details together and why Sony’s decision to censor the title is wrong e rather inconsistent.
Martha is Dead censorship: is Sony right or not?
A few days ago, through a post on Twitter, Wired Productions revealed to its users that Sony has decided to censor Martha is Dead his PlayStation 5 e PlayStation 4. As revealed in the post, the digital versions will be released on the designated day – that is February 24, 2022. However, the physical versions they will be delayed for a few weeks.
The first element that immediately catches the eye is the following: the PC and Xbox versions will not be censored. So, the question that arises is the following: why Sony has decided to censor the title?
Let’s start from an important assumption, Martha is Dead is a psychological horror set during the Second World War in Italy by Wired Productions and LKA. From the beginning its developers have been clear on the type of events that we would have faced in-game. From the beginning it was announced that it was an adult-friendly video game (PEGI 18, even), with the presence of disheartening scenes, heavy e themes that may distress players.
After all, most psychological horror was born with these game characteristics – even if not all of them always succeed in their intent. What does this Martha is Dead possess that is so terrible that it pushes Sony (and not Microsoft) to censor it?
Actually we do not know. In the published announcement, Wired Productions did not offer too many details to its audience, probably not to risk make spoilers to all gamers on PC and Xbox. Despite this, the company is disappointed with this behavior of Sony, particularly because has always been sincere about the content in Martha is Dead. Also, after approx four years of passion and hard workseeing that your video game is forced to suffer these indecencies is rather annoying.
We tried the Martha is Dead preview on PC and absolutely loved it. True, the video game has us distressed and there have been some twists that have left us quite astonished. But we knew what we would find in the game. In what psychological horror video game e in first person set during the Second World War – which, in itself, is already a period violent e terrifyingwe already had half an idea of what the game would offer us.
At first we couldn’t think of anything that could explain Sony’s decision. Then, some players started talking about one scene in particular. According to many, could be be the reason why Sony has decided to censor the video game on all its platforms. If you are not afraid of some spoilers, you can read below the probable scene that caused this uproar. If, on the other hand, you intend to buy the versions for PC or Xbox and therefore want to avoid spoilers, proceed forward.
We don’t know exactly if this is actually the offending scene but, in the meantime, it can be a good starting point.
ATTENTION, SPOILERS
The scene in question shows the protagonist cutting and then removing the skin of a girl’s face. The video game is in first person so the whole sequence shows itself this way.
Because Sony’s censorship is wrong
This event brought the dear and old back into vogue debate on video game violenceie the public is expressing conflicting opinions. Some who claim to knowing the brutal context of the scenethey claim to agree with the PlayStation decision. Others, however, claim that censorship it is not necessary for various reasons.
First of all Microsoft did not request censorship by Martha is Dead. This means that the company, which was already aware of the game’s contents, agreed to bring authentic play by Wired Productions on its consoles. Another reason, probably the most discussed of all, concerns the Sony exclusives.
During its career Sony has offered us many video games, more or less violent. The Last of Us IIin particular, turns out to be one of the more titles heavy e violent of the company, characterized by scene crude e violent that pop out from almost every corner.
So why that video game hasn’t been censored but Martha is Dead has to make it to Sony consoles in half, leaving behind its true essence?
We believe that we censor the creativity of developers is not appropriateparticularly when the latter have been clear from the start about theirs intentions e i contents present in the video game. Now we still don’t know for sure if the offending scene is the one we talked about. If it really was that, then most video games they should be censored or eliminated from the market.
Both companies, Wired Productions and Sony, could have found one less severe agreement. There are some video games, for example, that offer the option of disable some scenes. That way they would both win: Wired Productions wouldn’t have to censor its video game while Sony would have been happy.
A strange situation
Let’s be honest, the situation is quite side because, at the moment, we have no details or information. We do not know what content will censor Sony either how many. We do not know for what reason has taken this decision, given some of its exclusives that for years has pushed strongly on the market.
Until we know exactly what e how much has been censored, we can’t actually pull out the pitchforks. In any case, whether the censorship is light or heavy, it is still wrong.
At the moment the only certainty we have is the following: Wired Productions is absolutely not keen to censor his beloved video game. Not just because of the hard work he required but because he was asked to take out important scenes that would help audiences to empathize in the protagonists and in the story.
The beauty of video games, by all video gamesis the possibility of identifying with the protagonist and of feel on our skin what it is feeling. For many gamers, horror is the most suitable genre. For others, however, role-playing games or even shooters are. As gamers, and horror lovers, Sony’s decision seems to us inconsistent e wrong.
A video game is not being censored here, someone’s creativity is being censored. Wired Productions has given heart and soul to this project, a project that we support and we can’t wait to savor until the end. Part of us very much hopes that Sony can change their minds because Martha is Dead is a really interesting video game and it would be a shame to publish it halfway.
We remind you that Martha is Dead will be available on February 24, 2022 on Xbox and PC (uncensored version) and on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 (censored version). At the moment we don’t have a release date yet for the physical version on PlayStation.