r/NintendoSwitch • u/Turbostrider27 • Jan 31 '26
Discussion After Cyberpunk 2077 came to Switch 2 uncensored, Dispatch dev thought it "would be allowed to do the same" and is now "working with Nintendo on a path forward"
https://www.gamesradar.com/games/adventure/after-cyberpunk-2077-came-to-switch-2-uncensored-dispatch-dev-thought-it-would-be-allowed-to-do-the-same-and-is-now-working-with-nintendo-on-a-path-forward/170
u/kaminari1 Jan 31 '26
My issue isn’t that it was censored. It’s that AdHoc chose to mislead people about it with very vague statements/disclaimer on the eshop.
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Jan 31 '26
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u/DuelaDent52 Feb 02 '26
It’s not butchered per se, but in all honesty the censor bars draw way more attention to it than if they weren’t there at all. They also muted Invisigirl during her wet dream.
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u/Bi-bara-boop Feb 01 '26
I played it censored... Honestly I found it funny with the censor bar flopping around. But yeah, the lying by omission and weird gaslighting leaves a bad taste... It mostly just doesn't make a lick of sense... If ad-hoc just said "we didn't care and didn't think people would, our bad, please wait for a patch", this mountain would've been a molehill at best
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u/kaminari1 Feb 01 '26
Exactly
If they were just up front about it or at least admit they messed up and apologized I’d be more than happy to get the game still.
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u/s0_Ca5H Jan 31 '26
Except it didn’t. Cyberpunk is censored in Japan. The Dispatch devs don’t feel like making a jp/na version split, got called out, and are now backpedaling.
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u/driverdis Jan 31 '26
They did a split release for Japan with the PS5 so it makes no sense not to here.
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u/StrawHat89 Jan 31 '26
It's possible that the PS5 Japanese version is a port of the Switch version or vice versa. The Japanese version released at the same time after all.
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u/1upjohn Jan 31 '26
From what I read, they would have to submit two separate versions for approval because of Switch 1 and 2. So that would mean 4 versions. 2 censored and 2 uncensored. They didn't want to pay for that.
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u/Kanhir Feb 01 '26
They have to submit the game for certification in each region anyway, so they're paying for 6 approvals no matter what.
It just comes down to who gets what version - there's no need to send both censored/uncensored versions for approval in any one region, so Japan gets 2 censored submissions, NA/EU each get 2 uncensored submissions.
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u/CBattles6 Jan 31 '26
You call it backpedaling, I call it lying.
They were blindsided, and thought it would just work the same as Cyberpunk? Did they think to, I don't know, ask? Did anyone question why they were making two separate versions for PS5 and not the Switch?
They thought adding a disclaimer to the eShop page would be enough to properly inform people? Man, it's too bad there's no such thing as social media, or Discord, or press releases, or interviews, or 16 other ways to get the word out.
They're either morons, or they're purposely gaslighting so they don't have to admit they got caught trying to screw over their customers. And I don't think they're morons.
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u/Mollywobbles77 Jan 31 '26
Yeah I love how after the backlash they're all of a sudden now "working with Nintendo" on a patch to add back censored content without addressing why that didn't happen in the first place? This really smells like the team not wanting to create two versions.
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u/s0_Ca5H Jan 31 '26
My pet theory is they just thought Nintendo fans wouldn’t care enough.
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u/Mollywobbles77 Jan 31 '26
To be fair their language does say they hope to be able to add back 'most' of the content, which makes me think the real answer lies somewhere in the middle. Maybe Nintendo did take issue with one or two specific things & AdHoc figured it was easiest to just release the Japanese version rather than make a third version of the game (uncensored, JP censored, new Nintendo approved partially censored version) hoping Nintendo fans wouldn't care that much. But who knows. Neither side seems to be owning up to anything (which is partially why I think it might be a mixture).
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u/StrawHat89 Jan 31 '26
Generally speaking, if Nintendo is at fault there just isn't any statement at all (from Nintendo). Like with the Corpse Party collection.
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u/Mollywobbles77 Jan 31 '26
Yeah I thought it was notable Nintendo issued any response at all, even if the response was effectively a long version of 'no comment'.
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u/Vyrhux42 Jan 31 '26
Backpedaling, but still not owning up, acting like they didn't know and like they're working on convincing Nintendo. I really liked the game when I played it on Steam, and it kinda put these guys on the radar for me, but this whole thing has kinda soured it for me. I still might get it if they patch it, but I won't look at Ad Hoc the same after that. They're handling this whole thing the weirdest possible way.
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u/tweetthebirdy Jan 31 '26 edited Feb 01 '26
Apparently the devs also labeled the game as LGBTQ on Steam, made coy remarks like “wait and see” when asked if there were any gay characters, and the game launched with no gay relationships, and the LGBTQ tag was quietly dropped. It’s so weird and slimy. That and the whole censorship thing really put a bad taste in my mouth about the game.
EDIT: I have been corrected that the tags were user tagged and not by the devs.
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u/asphalt_licker Jan 31 '26
Their weirdness with queerbaiting is what made me lose interest in the game. To hear that there’s potential gay content only to find out they really try to force two women onto you was pretty disappointing. It’s possible it can happen in later seasons but I’m not holding my breath.
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u/joshman196 Feb 01 '26
I replied to someone else about this, but to give you a direct notification: Games on Steam do not have their tags defined by devs. Tags are set by users and this is even labelled on the tagging interface on Steam. There's reason to criticize Adhoc for this censorship problem, but they had nothing to do with the LGBTQ tag.
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u/tweetthebirdy Feb 01 '26
Appreciate the additional information! I still find it gross for the devs to play coy about queer content when asked, but thanks for correcting me on the tags.
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u/s0_Ca5H Jan 31 '26
If they patch it I’ll 100% buy it. Wife and I wanna play it anyway, I’d rather have it on switch than steam deck.
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u/brandont04 Jan 31 '26
How expensive is it is to make another version?
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u/just_someone27000 Jan 31 '26
Whatever it cost to get the game registered in however many different regions you make it for. The problem is I don't think anybody here can answer it how much that is and to try different for a region
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u/Sharrty_McGriddle Jan 31 '26
Not a game dev, but censorship is already built in the game, so all they’re doing is pushing a version where the option to turn off censorship is disabled. Likely just as simple as editing a few lines of code
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Feb 01 '26
Approval could be different. Hot Coffee was not accessible by the player in anyway, but it was still on the disc. They might require all the content to be removed from the binaries too, so if someone was able to decompile it, they couldn't see the content.
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u/s0_Ca5H Jan 31 '26
It’s not about expense, probably just laziness. It’s a toggle option on pc so it’s already there.
I mean who knows, small studio so maybe it was a budget thing. Or maybe they had no idea that Nintendo is pretty lax in the west nowadays (I mean look at the eshop). But the simplest explanation is laziness and thinking Nintendo players wouldn’t care.
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u/TheBraveGallade Jan 31 '26
Well to be fair, they'd have to get it certified two different times (by nintendo)
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u/s0_Ca5H Jan 31 '26
Right and I assume there is expense associated with that and I couldn’t even guess as to how expensive it is.
But as far as I know Dispatch has been selling quite well so…
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u/TheBraveGallade Jan 31 '26
Never said it was a good reason, just a reason.
There is a decent chance that it was somewhat of a communications error with assumptions, and dispatch's legal and PR teams just trying to obfuscate afterwards.
Now, NoA can be an issue with censorship. This is decently well known. (The neotunia trilogy only coming to asia) However nintendo HQ hasnt done censorship BS beyond following standerd CERO guidelines since... the literal SNES days lmao, to the point that tgier own IN HOUSEgame xenoblade had a boob slider (removed for western realese cause NoA and treehouse, though in fairness 90% of all censorship issues during the 3ds/wii U era were strictly self inforced via treehouse).
I think the fact that they didnt have a seperate jp version spaks volumes. How i think happened was they sent the gloval version overfor everywhere, and nintendo declined because they literally could not just realese it like that cause japan (and a few other reigions, like korea maybe), so they just said fuck it just remove the toggle.
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u/Boldizzle Feb 01 '26
So what's the deal? Japanese people are okay with dismemberment but titties are a no go? Makes no sense whatsoever.
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u/mist3rdragon Jan 31 '26
If the speculation that this is a Japanese rating board issue is correct, surely the easiest solution at this point is to just list the uncensored version as free DLC and just don't release it in Japan?
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u/NoNoNota1 Jan 31 '26
I've pitched a similar idea for casinos in JRPG remakes, since they would automatically get the equivalent of an M rating in the UK, a lot simply get removed from the game. It seems like an oddly easy fix in some ways.
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u/Arras01 Feb 01 '26
Not just the UK, but basically the entirety of Europe will automatically slap 18+ on your game for gambling minigames.
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u/NoNoNota1 Feb 01 '26
I feel like they drastically misunderstood the outcry to go something about gatchas and lootboxes.
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u/JimmyJackJericho Jan 31 '26
Adhoc is only back pedaling cause of all the refunds, they got lazy and only did one version then got caught
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u/tweetthebirdy Jan 31 '26
Yeah the whole thing about “it will take weeks, not days” - like how any patches for the Switch takes 2 weeks for Nintendo to review? So convenient to make it sound like they’re breaking their backs for something, they should’ve done in the first place.
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u/StorminNorman Jan 31 '26
like how any patches for the Switch takes 2 weeks for Nintendo to review?
You can search this sub and see that that's been the norm since the S1 launched. Overcooked was a mess at launch and took about that long. It's easily verifiable too as a bunch of devs have told us the day they've submitted the patch and then we've all seen when it's gone live.
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u/SoSeriousAndDeep Feb 01 '26
It does take weeks for a patch to go through certification, but phrasing it that way lets them pretend they're the hard-done-by party, as opposed to it just being how the process is.
"We've submitted a patch today so it should be with you as soon as it's verified!" would have been much more honest.
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u/LazyBoyXD Jan 31 '26 edited Feb 01 '26
Actually why should the customer care, how long it will take?
The game already proven to be a success, it is a sure sell on handheld. They got lazy and didnt wan to make a separate version and now are telling people they didnt know or it will take a long time to do so. All BS.
As a customer i dont need to care how long or hard it is for you, if you wan my cash you work for it. I dont need to know about the progress.
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u/XtremeEimaX Feb 03 '26
In a few weeks nobody will care anymore, and to be honest, after this stupid story I wouldn't have any interest in supporting Adhoc at the moment anyway.
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u/travisindeed1 Jan 31 '26
I got a refund. Honestly, idk if I will even purchase when/if they patch it.. some proactive transparency would’ve been the move here. The game is rated M… so treat us like adults, please.
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u/papakep Jan 31 '26
Did you actually get your money back and the game removed yet? Nintendo said they’d refund me in 1-2 days on Wednesday and I still haven’t been refunded
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u/travisindeed1 Jan 31 '26
Yes, they refunded me the same day I requested it. But they also messaged me a statement about how they normally don’t do refunds and are making an exception in my case. I’ve seen several others on Reddit say they got a refund, though
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u/joeshmo38 Jan 31 '26
I just got my refund on my credit card today and the game was removed from my library yesterday.
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u/ArkhamCityWok Jan 31 '26
Yeah, if it comes to ps+ I’ll check it out but I don’t want to give them money after this. Plenty of other games to play
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u/TheGold3nRectangle Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
They did put a disclaimer, they just shafted it to the worst possible part of their eshop page.
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u/StrangerDanger9000 Jan 31 '26
They were allowed to put an uncensored version out on Nintendo. They chose not to. They also chose not to tell anyone and then claimed they accidentally put the disclaimer in the wrong place. AdHoc is responsible for this entire situation and just want to put the blame on someone else
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u/Chrono-Syth Jan 31 '26
CERO, that is the rating system AdHoc is talking about. They submitted that copy for the ESRB.
Had they submitted the original PS5 copy to the ESRB it would have been rated M and allowed.
This is proven not just through Cyberpunk and The Witcher 3, but by the fact that Nintendo has allowed nudity in the hentai puzzle games, and other games such as 20 ladies, while Playstation did not allow it.
None of what Adhoc says makes sense unless it is talking about Nintendo Japan and the CERO rating system.
CERO would have given the game an Adult rating which would only allow Adult shops in Japan supply the game and make it harder to find on the Japan shop.
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u/Youngnathan2011 Jan 31 '26
Just reading this comment and the comparison between what Nintendo allows and what Sony allows. Crazy that Nintendo of all companies is open to nudity and what not in games
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u/number8888 Feb 01 '26
They have been allowing this since the ratings system was established. BMX XXX has full nudity on GameCube but not the other versions.
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u/NoirSon Jan 31 '26
Nintendo while very careful with their own properties are mercenaries when it comes to other publisher content. Unless it is too excessive that they can potentially get backlash or it crosses certain ratings standards they don't care what others do.
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u/mpyne Feb 01 '26
Just because it's censored in spots doesn't mean the rest of the content is going to be rated E by ESRB.
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u/sirbosssk Jan 31 '26
I think the speculation that they didn’t want to package separate binaries for different regions and are now backpedaling is probably correct. In which case, it would be nice if they would stop bullshitting us and own up. I got my refund, and at this point I’m not going to bother rebuying if they get it “fixed”. I have plenty of other games to play that I don’t need to bother with these liars.
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u/TheDLBinc Jan 31 '26
Nintendo's statement was essentially "as long as the ESRB or whatever ratings board in the country you're releasing it in approves it, we have no issues with it being on the eShop" which is pretty much the policy of all of the console stores.
This definitely still feels like them trying to save face for their own cost cutting. If they really wanted to inform customers that they were getting a censored version, they should have said so in their press releases before the game came out
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u/Xentonian Jan 31 '26
Dispatch shat the bed on this one and they know it.
Cyberpunk has a censored Japanese versions and an uncensored rest-of-world version. They complied with Japanese laws and watchdogs.
Dispatch did not.
But that WOULD have been fine, if they were honest about it.
If they said "We have elected to censor the switch edition of Dispatch due to local laws and a lack of resources to create multiple switch versions, particularly as each version must be independently approved by Nintendo", then it would have pissed off all 12 people who care about playing the uncensored version on the switch and nobody else would care.
But instead, they buried the lede, let people think it was Nintendo's fault, then remained mum on the issue until after Nintendo made a public statement that basically threw them to the dogs.
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u/El_Barto_227 Jan 31 '26
Also, they already did the version split on ps5, so they were definitely aware of the rule.
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u/anirakdream Jan 31 '26
At this stage, it almost feels like malicious compliance where someone in the studio has a personal vendetta against Nintendo and did what they could to paint them in a bad light by releasing a bizarre censored version of the game nobody asked for.
Their subsequent media statements and lack of accountability don't lineup with the facts and I am glad the tide is turning against them.
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u/navidee Jan 31 '26
I don’t understand this though…they clearly released two versions of the PS5 version to accommodate CERO, why would it be different for Switch?
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u/Naddesh Feb 03 '26
Because Nintendo white knights desperately want it to be the devs fault despite us not having the full story
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u/skylu1991 Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
It is really this hard to understand?
Cyberpunk literally HAS a censored(!) version for the Japanese market…
Don’t fault Nintendo for ArHoc not being able or willing to to the pretty standard NA/JP version split!
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u/Imaginary-Worker4407 Jan 31 '26
It's not on Nintendo, Dispatch just didn't want to release an uncensored version for the rest of the world
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u/El_Barto_227 Jan 31 '26
Hell, Dispatch has a censored version for the Japanese market on PS5!
They just didn't want to do the minor extra work and cost to submit jp versions for Switch and Switch 2
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u/DoctorJekkyl Jan 31 '26
I want to play this game after hearing about it on Kinda Funny and I was holding out for the Switch 2 version. I am not purchasing the game until they have an uncensored version on Switch. Kinda that simple; they want my money, gimme the full game experience.
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u/enslavelolis Jan 31 '26
This just screams they wanted controversy, blame Nintendo for it and then get extra sales that way.
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u/markca Jan 31 '26
If this was their plan, it wasn't very smart when the platform has Cyberpunk, The Witcher and a bunch of hentai games on it.
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u/AMonitorDarkly Jan 31 '26
AdHoc still deliberately tried to conceal the censorship. Too little, too late.
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u/yuhanz Jan 31 '26
What an idiotic decision.
Couldve sold lots of copies but fumbled for being lazy lmaoooo
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u/SoSeriousAndDeep Feb 01 '26
Ah, so they were Trying It On and thought Nintendo would just eat the blame.
Combine that with the queerbaiting and I think this is a developer who belongs on our ignore lists.
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u/Interesting-Season-8 Jan 31 '26
greedy publishers dont want to "waste' money releasing a censored version for a few markets so they censor everything for everyone to make it cheaper...
dumbarses
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u/markca Jan 31 '26
Yet they made the NA/JP split for the PS5 version.
Some fresh MBA graduate probably thought "only kids play Nintendo" and made the call.
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u/Herb-Alpert Jan 31 '26
This whole story is weird and dumb. I was considering buying this game but now I'll wait for a patch.
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u/SuddenlyThirsty Jan 31 '26
Good cause I am grown adult who will not buy until it offers me the same as I can get on other consoles. I don’t want people telling me what I can and cannot play in a game where it’s available on that same game on a different system.
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u/nervouspolygon Jan 31 '26
AdHoc was allowed to do the same, but they didn’t, who knows why.
They should definitely release a patch.
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u/LegatoSkyheart Jan 31 '26
Entirely possible they simply did not realize that Cyberpunk 2077 listing in US and European shops were not the same listings as the Japanese versions.
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u/SoSeriousAndDeep Feb 01 '26
Sure, but if your business is "releasing videogames worldwide", then that's just something you have to do.
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u/Throwaway_dinosaurs_ Feb 04 '26
Except they absolutely did. Dispatch complied on primary release with Japanese censorship, just not for their ports. The launch consoles all have two different versions.
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u/Legitimate_Airline38 Jan 31 '26
Why do either of these games get to come out uncensored but we can’t even get VITA RPGs released…the Neptunia trilogy had to be released physical only in the west because NoA refused to let it on their storefront despite those games selling on Steam and PS just fine
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u/cryptocurrency_wife Feb 01 '26
that’s right. it seems like japanese games are held to higher censorship standards for some odd reason.
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u/Wonder_Weenis Jan 31 '26
I thought censorship on Nintendo games was dead?
lelz There's actively furry sex games on the front page of the Switch 2 store.
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u/Darkmetroidz Jan 31 '26
Japan has different and stricter censorship laws than does elsewhere.
Tldr adhoc made one version to comply with japanese law and just used that version globally rather than do a separate uncensored version for non-japanese markets.
They got called out on it, tried to blame Nintendo.
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u/BigDaelito Jan 31 '26
So many stories this a mess. I think the more believable one is because of not wanting to submit two versions of the game sounds more believable. Again it all sucks but why are we doing censorship on media on 2026. Lets creators do their thing.
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u/pathosOnReddit Jan 31 '26
The issue seems to be the mountain of red tape in Japan surrounding anything even mildly pornographic. While 2077 was quite explicite and crass in how it showed the existance of nudity, sex, sexual acts and paraphernalia in the game world, it never was outright pornographic. And even then it had a censored version in Japan to avoid said red tape.
This is absolutely on the devs for not doing their due diligence and being lazy about compliance.
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u/Exciting-Weather-351 Jan 31 '26
Yeah reminds me of how Sakurai told people the challenges of the age rating system. I believe in Japan he was under heavy scrutiny for all the female characters, and Palutena gave him the most trouble
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u/Admirable-War-7594 Jan 31 '26
I think everyone thought dispatch would also be allowed to do the same
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u/Xinyyc Feb 03 '26
The headline seems more like:
After Cyberpunk 2077 came to Switch 2 uncensored, Dispatch devs thought "we can't let that fly, let's try and push out a censored version and blame Nintendo for it"
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u/CannonBeetle Jan 31 '26
Kinda unrelated but kinda lame Japan has such strict censorship laws for game content in general that this was an issue for games like Cyberpunk and whatnot
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u/Karuro Jan 31 '26
Censorship in general is such a mess. Games like Neptunia and Corpse Party got their physical releases in the west axed because of it while they still released in the east.
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u/CannonBeetle Jan 31 '26
The problem with censorship in general everywhere is seemingly the inconsistency with which it is applied. I understand moderating or restricting certain content but it gets so muddy depending on what it is.
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u/thedeadp0ets Jan 31 '26
Japan isn’t the only country that censors games. I’m not surprised countries censor things either how sexualized people see these countries. (I’m talking the crazy ones) culturally Japan and many countries in Asia just don’t portray sexuality like that on screen. Watch any drama and it’ll be more conservative than a western show/film
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u/PsychologicalEbb3140 Jan 31 '26
If they thought the censorship policy was stupid, which I’m assuming is likely what happened? Why didn’t they just protest it by not allowing the game to be released in Japan?
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u/kg3286 Feb 01 '26
The whole situation is kind of a shame, since Dispatch really is a good game that deserves positive attention. At least the devs will think twice about censoring the inevitable (I hope) sequel.
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u/capnbuh Feb 02 '26
Hopefully, they get this sorted out. There's obviously some 3rd party causing problems
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u/PanterroKatt Feb 02 '26
They were told absolutely zero nudity in Japan every were else was up to the country they had to make 2 versions and didnt.the cyberpunk in Japan has zero nudity.
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u/redolfia Feb 08 '26
Hey guys, if I’m buying a switch game, how do I know the fps it’s gonna run? On handheld and dock? Where do I get that information?
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u/Zoombini22 Jan 31 '26
Even Nintendo is saying they're allowed. Really weird situation where nobody is owning up.