A scene inDevil May Cry 5is stirring up controversy after it was discovered that a scene featuring nudity is shown differently on the western PlayStation 4 version of the game, as opposed to other platforms and regions. The scene in question featuresDanteholding a nude Trish in both of his arms. The PS4 version of the scene features a flash of lens flare covering up Trish’s nudity, while other platforms lack the lens flare entirely. NeitherDevil May Cry 5’s developer, Capcom, nor Sony have commented regarding the difference.
The controversy has grown more complicated than the issue with theDevil May Cry 5scene, as is often the case anymore. Discourse regarding the scene is largely broken up into two subject areas. One line of the conversation revolves around theDevil May Cry 5scene as an example of moderncensorship, while the other considers the situation from the perspective of stylistic choices and development miscommunication. And around those two lines is a minefield of meta topics regarding the state of and future of the video game industry.
Regarding censorship, the issue revolves around why the western PS4 version of the game features the lens flare while other platforms do not. Questions as to whether Sony orCapcomexplicitly chose to cover up the nudity are at the center of this conversation, as well as the reasons why they may or may not have made that decision. Why the western version of the PS4 version of the game has the lens flare, but the Japanese version doesn’t, is also being discussed. This part of the controversy delves into issues of cultural differences and sexism, but given the lack of explanation from the developers is also largely built on assumptions and insinuations.
The second line of the conversation focuses more on how this happened. In anotherDevil May Cry 5scene, there’s also another example of nudity on-screen. A woman stands up and disrobes, but her nudity is covered by lens flare. This scene is the same on all platforms and in all regions, making the western PC and Xbox One versions of theTrishscene the odd ones. Questions as to whether this is just Capcom’s stylistic decision as opposed to censorship are the bigger issue. And then the follow-up question as to whether the western PC and Xbox One versions of the game are bugged, which is why the lens flare didn’t trigger for the Trish scene.
Until Capcom or Sony provides official comment on the scene in question, little progress is likely to be made in the conversation. It could be an example of censorship, with Capcom choosing or Sony asking Capcom to censor the nudity scenes and avoid that conversation. It could just be a bug regarding a stylistic decision and censorship never had anything to do with it. Capcom has been criticized for its depictions of women before, including inDevil May Cry 5, but its also not exactly known for depicting nudity in its games. The truth is unclear, but unlikely to sate the controversy anyway.
Devil May Cry 5is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
