During this month’s PlayStation State of Play, Team Clout showcased the story trailer for their forthcoming first-person survival horror game ILL. Slated for a 2027 release, the game pulls no punches when it comes to graphic content, appearing as brutal and violent as possible based on the trailer. Although ILL hasn’t been rated by regional age rating boards yet, it’s highly probable that the game will carry an 18+ rating across all regions.
Nevertheless, many Japanese gamers and horror fans have recently voiced concerns online about the possibility of the game not being released in their country. Those familiar with Japan’s video game rating system might wonder – Doesn’t Japan have the CERO Z rating (18 and up)? – but there have been numerous cases where games have been deemed too extreme even for this rating, resulting in cancelled releases.
Players on X have been vocal about this potential issue, with several trending posts circulating the platform.
Translation:
It seems like another game won’t release in Japan solely because its content is “too graphic.” I really don’t understand this. We already have the Z rating to prevent minors from buying it, yet adults aren’t allowed to play at their own discretion.
So, what’s the point of the Z rating if this happens? I honestly don’t get it.
For context, Steam and PlayStation store listings for ILL confirm the inclusion of Japanese interface and subtitles, suggesting a planned Japanese release. However, what troubled gamers was that despite ILL being featured in the Japanese-language State of Play broadcast on the global PlayStation YouTube channel, the trailer was completely absent from the version on the Japanese PlayStation channel. No official explanation was provided for the missing trailer, leading Japanese users to suspect the game might face cancellation.
As noted earlier, it’s not uncommon for Western horror games to fail CERO’s review despite initial Japanese release announcements. This is due to the rating body’s strict stance on gore depictions (particularly severed body parts) – an issue even major developers like Capcom have publicly addressed.
A recent example is Striking Distance Studio’s sci-fi horror The Callisto Protocol, which was denied approval by CERO in 2022 due to its violence and gore. The developers explained that altering the content to meet CERO’s standards would compromise the intended player experience, leading them to abandon the Japanese release.
Just a few months later, it was revealed that Electronic Arts’ 2023 survival horror Dead Space would not receive a console release in Japan. According to a statement by EA Japan General Manager Sean Noguchi, the reason was that “the console version in Japan does not comply with rating requirements.” To work around this, Dead Space was released digitally on PC in Japan.
When a game is digital-only, it can be released with an IARC generic rating instead of CERO (with some exceptions). This allowed Dead Space to launch on platforms like Steam without censorship. However, securing retail shelf space in Japan would have required passing CERO’s review.
Given this context, Japanese gamers’ concerns about ILL’s domestic release are entirely valid.
As Noguchi explains, while the PC version of ILL is unlikely to face issues, its PlayStation 5 release in Japan may be challenging. He acknowledges the industry’s need for self-regulation to prevent content from becoming “too extreme” – in CERO’s case, this involves defining “expressions that are unacceptable even for 18+ audiences.” However, he also believes that cases like ILL could improve if Japan’s PS Store began accepting IARC 18+-rated titles.
With roughly a year until release, it remains to be seen whether ILL will pass CERO’s review and launch on all platforms in Japan.