The MMORPG Bless from South Korea is quite open in its original version. However, this does not seem to be the case in the Western version. Among other things, a sex scene is missing.
What happened? Bless caused quite a stir upon its Western release on Steam. The online role-playing game from South Korea did not run particularly smoothly, contents were missing, and many players wanted their money back.
Bless has since recovered from the initial rage, but there are still many things that remain a thorn in the side of many players. This also includes the censorship of content!
No Sex in the West!
Whoa, there’s sex in Bless? Yes, but not in the EU and US versions of the game. In all other editions, there is a scene early in the game where two characters are seen making love. However, the developers apparently found this too risqué, and thus the scene is simply missing in the Western version. Here we have embedded the scene from the Asian version for you:
Why was the sex scene cut? The response to the censorship allegations has come from an official moderator on Steam. He admitted that the contents of Bless had been censored for the West in order to still achieve a “T-Rating” under the ESBR classification.
This refers to an independent review body that classifies media according to their content into age groups. Too much erotic content quickly leads to a classification of “M”, which means “17 and older”. This would make Bless less marketable, at least in the US. Furthermore, the new standards at Steam regarding adult content are also said to have played a role. Recently, some explicit anime games were subjected to a review.
Was more censored?
In the statement from the community employee of Bless, it was mentioned that “some contents” were changed. Therefore, some pets in the Western version are also more modest.
This mainly concerns half-naked harpy pets and a mount that depicts a hybrid creature of a woman and a spider with exposed breasts.
It is also said that certain clothes are a bit more modest in the West. However, female characters are still often dressed rather revealingly. At least, not too much censorship seems to have been applied here.
Players upset about censorship
Understandably, many players find this censorship terrible and demand a patch that brings back nudity. However, some gamers simply don’t care, as they prefer to play an exciting MMORPG and are indifferent to breasts and nudity.
What do you think about the matter? Is censorship unacceptable or is it more sensible for developers to reach as many players as possible and therefore have as low an age classification as possible for their game?
