Game publisher Wired Productions and developer LKA recently announced that Martha Is Dead will be censored on PlayStation platforms, while the PC and Xbox versions remain unaltered.

Originally announced in 2019, Martha Is Dead has always been clearly described as a game designed for mature audiences with dark and adult themes. However, this approach has led to the sudden, last-minute removal of “potentially discomforting” scenes, and some parts of the game are being described as “no longer playable.”

Here’s the official announcement from LKA:

Martha Is Dead PlayStation Update

Martha Is Dead is a narrative adventure recommended for adult audiences only, with play consisting of potentially discomforting scenes and themes that may distress some players. Both Wired Productions and LKA have always been open and honest about Martha Is Dead content, with the sensitive depictions in play consistently communicated to the media since the game was announced in 019. This content is also flagged clearly and repeatedly within the game itself before play begins.

It is with regret that we have had to modify the experience on the PS5 and PS4 versions, with some elements no longer playable. After over four years of passion and hard work, Developer LKA now requires extra time to make these unplanned changes. Martha Is Dead, as a result, will still launch digitally on both PS5 and PS4 on Thursday, February 24th, 2022, but the physical retail release will be delayed to a yet to be disclosed date; although we anticipate this to only be a small number of weeks. Our physical edition will still contain the bonus content of a double-sided poster, digital tarot cards and Martha Is Dead Digital EP. We will update players with the date we ship this edition as soon as we have the information.

The PC and Xbox versions of Martha Is Dead are both unaffected by these developments and will launch with the full unedited gameplay as planned.

We look forward to players experiencing the work of LKA on Thursday February 24th, 2022.

This is another example of Sony taking a hard censorious turn since 2018, when new company policies led to several games being censored, and some releases being cancelled outright.

To date, the games affected by Sony’s censorship policies have been exclusively from third parties. To list a few examples, the western release of Omega Labyrinth Z was cancelled, scenes being removed from Aokana: Four Rhythms Across The Blue, gameplay modes/features were removed from both Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 Scarlet and Senran Kagura Re:Newal, all nudity was removed from Hentai Vs. Evil, while Nora to Oujo to Noraneko Heart was censored so much that it went from a M-rated (Mature 17+) title to an E for Everyone rating on PS4.

However, as Niche Gamer correctly points out, Sony’s new censorship efforts have focused on Japanese developed games until now, but Martha Is Dead demonstrates that Sony is willing censor games from Western (in this case, Italian) developers as well.

Martha is Dead is currently scheduled to release on 24 February for PS4, PS5, Xbone, SeXbox, and Steam PC.

Source: Niche Gamer

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