With few exceptions, the Assassin’s Creed series has been rated R with brutal murders and an adult plot. This has meant that it has usually been given the highest age rating that applies. But despite this, content in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be censored in Japan.
This is confirmed by Ubisoft Japan, which writes that the game does not meet the rules for the CERO Z label (from 18 years) and that some content has therefore been removed (translated with Bing):
“Assassin’s Creed Shadows (CERO:Z) complies with the regulations of the reviewing authorities, there will be differences in some of the game’s visual depictions in the Japanese version.”
The main differences seem to be about severed body parts and Ubisoft Japan continues:
“The setting to turn amputation on or off has been removed from the game settings, and amputation of enemy heads and limbs will always be disabled during play.”
There will also be some minor, but unspecified, differences in the language. Our version of Assassin’s Creed Shadows is not affected by this.