Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is a 2.5D puzzle RPG with horror elements that was released on Steam back in August 25 2020 and produced by Suzaku. Taking inspiration from titles like Clock Tower and Fatal Frame, the protagonist Mei-Lin Mak navigates through Neo Hong Kong searching for clues to solve the mystery behind her curse in this meticulous and methodically paced psychological thriller.
Sense was announced for home consoles, and the promotion for its release on the Nintendo Switch was met with vicious backlash from a vocal part of the community for the design of its female characters and falsely alleging the game is sexually explicit. According to Sense's content description on its Steam page, overt sexual content is not listed as an advisory. The game is free of nudity, with only semi-revealing outfits being the most racy content. It's M(17+)/PEGI 18 rating is more attributed to references to drugs, alcohol, murder, suicide, and abuse.
Demands were made by the group for developer Suzaku to alter the bust size of its characters, which Top Hat Studios refused. upon which the publisher and studio's social media pages on Facebook and Twitter were flooded with threats and acts of malice in efforts to deplatform the title issuing a lengthy statement on Twitter:
"With the recent news of Sense A Cyberpunk Ghost Story coming to the Nintendo Switch, we are aware of a large amount of messages and demands made towards the games' console platform release based on lies (claims that it is explicitly 'pornographic' or somehow 'encourages violence' or most ridiculously, somehow 'breaks the law').
...In addition, we have received death threats from those who feel threatened by what essentially boils down to an aesthetic decision of how pixels are arranged on a screen...Let us be clear on this, we will not censor the game because of self-centered crowds who care solely about grandstanding. We absolutely refuse to restrict creative expression..."
OFFICIAL STATEMENT REGARDING CALLS DEMANDING CENSORSHIP OF SENSE - 不祥的预感: A CYBERPUNK GHOST STORY
— Top Hat Studios, Inc (@TopHatStudiosEN) January 1, 2021
Our commitment to our audience and to developers is we will never infringe on creative freedom or expression. pic.twitter.com/VV5IcGbJ7P
The publisher, for good measure, and to assure that the threats made against them are of public record, produced several tweets showcasing the hostility in efforts to inflict harm on their business prospects:
We originally did not want to make this post, as to not accidentally incite a search for these posters and cause further fights. However, as there are now industry-adjacent people slandering/gaslighting us as liars, we've compiled a sampling from twitter, FB, and email. (1/5) pic.twitter.com/TJlNS4tWTd
— Top Hat Studios, Inc (@TopHatStudiosEN) January 2, 2021
Censorship in gaming has been a hot button topic in recent years. Earlier this year titles like Atelier Ryza 2 as Junzo Hosoi, brand manager for the Japanese developer GUST (producers of Atelier Ryza 2) stated simply, "The GUST team do not see the need to edit a title for another culture or country as something or negative opinions particularly on this."
Cultural differences play a key factor in what's deemed acceptable or explicit, and hard looks should be taken at not only the content of the game itself, but the audience something is developed for. Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story has seen rousing support for its release on Steam and since its announcement for the Switch has been backed by the community for standing by creative expression. The tribalism expressed by a portion of the internet who may never have had any intention on showing interest in the product is not entitled to tear something down because it's something they disagree with. It would be very prudent to see more studios and publishers follow the example that Top Hat Studios is setting. Circumstances taken into consideration, it's no longer one's creative vision if it is forced to alter itself. If video games are considered an art form, it loses its potency to invoke provocative thought and illusion if it's met with constraints.
Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is available on Steam and is coming to the Nintendo Switch January 7 2021.
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