The developers of Resident Evil Village have promised that the upcoming survival horror sequel is going to have some intense and horrifying stuff going on, which usually means a lot of violence and gore (especially where Resident Evil is concerned). As is often the case though, in Japan, the game will go lighter on some of that stuff.
As Capcom explains in an FAQ page, Resident Evil Village will have two versions in Japan based on guidelines from the Japanese ratings board CERO (as is often the case with such games). The CERO D version will be for players aged 17 and younger, while the CERO Z version will be for players aged 18 or above. Neither version will have decapacitations, both versions will have less blood and gore than the game’s western releases, and both versions will be lacking in some scenes that will be prohibited by CERO.
Censorship of violence in video games is something that often happens in Japan, with CERO regularly stamping down on excessive portrayals of blood and violence, so to see the same happening with Resident Evil Village doesn’t come as much of a surprise. In addition, Capcom promises that in spite of these restrictions, “there is basically no difference in the game content from the overseas version.”
Resident Evil Village is due out for the PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC on May 7. On PC, the game will support ray-tracing and FidelityFX, thanks to a partnership between Capcom and AMD.
Recently, the game’s file size on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S was revealed. Read more on that through here.