Since announcing the release of Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story on the Nintendo Switch, publisher Top Hat Studios has received a staggering amount of messages demanding the studio to censor its latest title. Top Hat Studios' response to these demands? “The game will not be censored. We categorically refuse.”
Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is a side-scrolling horror game set in 2083 Neo Hong Kong that released on Steam on August 25, 2020 to mostly positive reviews. Yet, soon after announcing plans to port the game to the Nintendo Switch, the publisher was met with censorship demands from outraged consumers. While Japanese games like the Final Fantasy 8 Remaster often face censorship in some fashion before their Western release, Top Hat Studios has made its anti-censorship stance clear in an official statement on Twitter.
In the face of threats ranging from review-bombing to harassing distributors, Top Hat Studios responded by defending the creative freedoms of its developers in order to protect the integrity of its titles. The vocal group attempting to intimidate the publisher has cited a variety of seemingly unfounded claims surrounding Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story include the game being explicitly “pornographic,” “encourages violence,” and “breaks the law.”
Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story received an M (17+)/PEGI 18 rating for seemingly minor offenses anyone could find in a PG-13 movie: blood and gore, intense violence, suggestive themes, and language. Top Hat Studios’ sci-fi survival horror game simply draws inspiration from the transhumanism, dystopic themes that other cyberpunk titles like Cyberpunk 2077 are beloved for.
Censorship has become a hotly debated topic among fans and developers over the past few years. There are those who see censorship as harmful to creativity and experimentation among developers, while others like Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends and the Secret Fairy producer Junzo Hosoi see it as a useful tool that allows titles to fit any market.
Prior to backlash, the New York-based Top Hat Studios had received nothing but support for its ghostbusting adventure since a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2018. Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story follows Mei Lin Mak as she attempts to solve a century-old mystery hidden within the ruins of the Chong Sing Apartments. Players are tasked with exorcising demons, rather than combating them, in an attempt to help them pass on as they investigate a supernatural maelstrom of Chinese folklore. The Kickstarter campaign passed its $10,000 funding goal in just 30 days, receiving $60,027 from over 1,000 backers.
Review bombing has resulted in quite a bit of negative feedback for major IPs. Monster Hunter World was a recent target of review bombs as a result of a racist joke included in the new Monster Hunter movie. Despite developer Capcom having no involvement in the film, the title’s Steam user score suffered as a result. Hopefully, the community support surrounding Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is strong enough to withstand any attempt to unfairly attack the title.
Sense – A Cyberpunk Ghost Story is currently available on Steam and is set to release for the Nintendo Switch on January 7.
