The Last Of Us Multiplayer Censored in Europe, Naughty Dog Confirms

[Andy Chalk]

The Last Of Us Multiplayer Censored in Europe, Naughty Dog Confirms

The Last Of Us Creative Director Neil Druckmann says there's nothing Naughty Dog can do about cuts to the multiplayer component of the game in Europe.

Back in late June, a sharp-eyed member of the Naughty Dog forums by the name of "Ramify" took note of the fact that The Last Of Us multiplayer is far less bloody in Europe than it is in the U.S. He posted still images and animated GIFs of the two versions illustrating the differences and it seemed pretty clear that something was up. He acknowledged that it didn't really have an impact on the gameplay but said, "I can't shake the feeling I did not buy the game in its entirety, and not how the developers intended this work of art to be played."

Plenty of others seemed to share his feeling - the forum thread is currently up to 48 pages - but even so, it took until the end of July before Naughty Dog responded to the inquiry. "The gore and violence ratings are subject to local regulatory boards in various countries, so the game must be slightly changed in order to accommodate those choices," a Naughty Dog rep wrote. "To be honest, I'm not sure what version Australia is getting. If you import the North/South American version, it will not be censored, but EU/UK will be."

A few days later, Druckmann put the kibosh on any thoughts of a "toggle" that would allow players who wanted it to ramp up the blood and guts. "The censorship came from standards in Europe," he wrote during an August 1 AMA on Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jg952/hi_were_neil_druckmann_creative_director_and/cbed2t8?context=3]. "Nothing we can do about it. Sorry."

The single-player version of The Last Of Us, rather oddly, is uncensored in all regions.

Source: Naughty Dog forums [http://forums.naughtydog.com/t5/The-Last-of-Us-Multiplayer/Media-Coverage-The-Last-of-Us-Censorship-Compared-NSFW/td-p/40854677]


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[Tanis]

Why are the Euro/Auzzie nations always pulling this crap?

 

[mad825]

If you import the North/South American version, it will not be censored, but EU/UK will be."

For all you people who supported PEGI...Thank you, on the behalf of the people who don't give a shit about censorship in the UK.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

The single-player version of The Last Of Us, rather oddly, is uncensored in all regions.

I can easily see a ratings board making the decision based on "Killing NPCs can be more violent because they aren't real people."

 

[flarty]

Why are the Euro/Auzzie nations always pulling this crap?

sometimes its the other way. The Witcher was censored in the US for example.

we get the T and A, you get the gore basically...

Yes it worries me that some people think violence is more acceptable than sex.

 

[mad825]

because ofc the ESRB/BBFC never censored anything...

pffft.

Most of their decisions related to computer games were based off the reaction of the public not the content per se. The BBFC has a legal and moral duty to perform. ESRB? wtf? They have no UK legal obligation

 

[Covarr]

All of Europe got it censored? Strange, it's usually just Germany.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Teoes]

Yes it worries me that some people think violence is more acceptable than sex.

Don't even think to mention naughty words, which are a whole other level of sick and twisted.

Is the language in TLOU blue, or is it cleaned up/bleeped?

 

[Irridium]

I keep forgetting The Last of Us has multiplayer, and keep getting surprised when I'm reminded it has it.

 

[Ian Kapsthan Frost]

The multiplayer censorship would be substantially less bothersome if they had informed people about it BEFORE they released the game. Despite really liking the game during my first 1-3 playthroughs, I still feel somewhat bitter about Sony/Naughty Dog not being upfront about this, and in fact even stating (or at least strongly hinting) that it was fully uncut. And that despite the recent and almost identical issue with God of War: Ascension in singleplayer (although the changes were admittedly minor).

It would really like to continue buying Sony-published games Day 1, but lately it seems wiser to wait for at least a month until everything is cleared up as to what might be missing. Or to just import everything from the US that doesn't feature anything explicitly sexual.

So many other publishers tend to be honest about regional cuts, like EA who went above and beyond the call of duty to explain what they changed about Dead Space 2's multiplayer in Germany (no friendly fire in multiplayer), or Rockstar with Max Payne 3's changes in Germany (civilians can not be killed anymore). Both companies could have easily tried to get away with not telling people about it, since the changes were minor enough for the average player not to notice them, but they decided to be honest about it and allow people that did care about these things to import the games from elsewhere instead.

All of Europe got it censored? Strange, it's usually just Germany.

P.S. Thanks

This appears to be a new trend. Lately people here (in Germany) have apparently become more aware of the fact that quite a few games are censored, and boxes now all advertise with stuff like "100% Uncut" etc.. When all European versions are cut they occasionally advertise it as uncut, with the fine print saying "when compared to other European versions". Which was also the case with TLOU, although not on the box directly in this case. The whole European versions comparison is based on the fact that in the past UK versions where usually uncensored while German versions where often censored -> So "identical to other EU versions" should mean fully uncut, right? - Well apparently not anymore.
So in order to advertise stuff as uncut here, it is apparently being cut for the entire EU-region, just to be able to use this advertisement loophole. Although I hope I am wrong about this. People got enough reason to hate this country and its incredibly outdated rating system already.

Edit: Clarified second part.

 

[flarty]

Yes it worries me that some people think violence is more acceptable than sex.

Don't even think to mention naughty words, which are a whole other level of sick and twisted.

Is the language in TLOU blue, or is it cleaned up/bleeped?

No theres a lot of strong even from the Ellie if memory serves.

 

[Elate]

Getting real tired of being treated like a child by those in power. Seems to be a world wide thing too as people have mentioned, knee jerk reactions to sexual things in America, and now Germany's rules starting to seep into Europe on gore and violence.

Perhaps if they maybe put in a law that games of certain ratings can't be sold to anyone with the intent of giving it to a minor, we wouldn't have a problem, then y'know, parents would have accountability, rather than having to treat everyone like god damn children instead.

 

[mad825]

the BBFC as with PEGI censors on the basis strictly on the basis of content.

I'm sorry, but do you know anything about the BBFC? Do you even live in the UK? Decisions have been overturned because of negative publicity. The only two known games to be banned in the UK were Manhunt 2 and carmageddon both of which received nationwide media outcry...Again, these games still got releases with cuts

The PEGI system have no UK relations with the public, they do not understand "us".

 

[mad825]

oh well don't you read wikipedia.


simplistically the list the BBFC are given to work from is ultimately controlled by the government.

they can be told to "look again"...and when they do the list can *mysteriously* have changed...

What? They don't just change.

As said on the BBFC website

Examiners look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence when making decisions. They also consider context, the tone and impact of a work (how it makes the audience feel) and even the release format (for example, as DVDs, Blu-rays and videos for download are watched in the home, there is a higher risk of under-age viewing).

There is also a subjective issue at hand which was also responsible for the re-classification of films from the 80s. The BBFC is by people, for the people.

if anything PEGI is probably more robust.

ha, robust [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-06-26-pegi-is-stricter-than-the-bbfc-were-not-ashamed-of-that-vsc]. You're probably right.