After having teased it earlier this week, Microsoft has officially confirmed that Gears of War 4 will be launching in Japan after all. We had previously reported on the Xbox Japan channel uploading a gears of War 4 trailer without explanation yesterday- this was odd, because Gears of War 4 had thus far been unable to release in Japan, with its violent content apparently causing problems with local censorship and rating boards.
However, it looks like whatever those problems were have been resolved- Gears of War 4 will launch in Japan on Xbox One and Windows 10, without any censorship whatsoever, having achieved a rating of CERO Z (which means the game is only for 18 year olds or older- and the rating will be legally enforced). The game will have English VO with Japanese subtitles, and will launch on May 25.
While the Xbox One’s fortunes in Japan are unlikely to turn as a result of this, Gears of War is reasonably popular in Japan- and the few people who maybe bought an Xbox One hoping for the latest instalments in their favorite Xbox franchises will doubtless be happy at this news regardless.