Back in November, publisher Rideon Japan announced that the Nintendo Switch release of Brave x Junction would be shelved in North America and Europe due to being flagged as “legally problematic sexual content involving children.” As Reported by Game*Spark, after a period of negotiations with Nintendo, the publisher decided to make adjustments to the designs labeled as “problematic” in order to be able to launch their game in the two regions. What’s interesting about this case is that Brave X Junction was previously released on the PlayStation store and Japanese Switch store without issue.
According to the publisher’s official X account, the “adjusted” NA and EU versions of the game are slated to go live on December 22 at 9:00 AM (PST) and 3:00 PM (CET) respectively.
Brave x Junction, released in October 2025, is a turn-based RPG in which you defeat monsters through one-on-one card battles with blackjack inspired mechanics. While the game’s content isn’t anywhere near explicit, it does feature revealing character designs and suggestive defeat illustrations (hence the ages 15 and up CERO rating). However, it seems like the Fighter and Magician, two of the main characters in the game, ended up being flagged as underaged by Nintendo, causing the game to be blocked from releasing in NA and EU regions.
Rideon Japan consulted with Nintendo on the matter, and on December 17 it came out with new, revised designs for the two characters, giving them a slight change of wardrobe that would “cover them up” just enough while still maintaining their core looks. Presumably, this was enough to get the game greenlit for a Western release. As the publisher mentioned, the “revised” version of the game will be a completely separate app from the Japan/Asia version, which still maintain the original designs of the characters.
On a related note, the game’s Steam version recently got banned in China, Germany, and Saudi Arabia after being flagged for “frequent nudity and sexual content” on the platform. Despite the publisher’s request for the tag to be removed, with claims that it does not appropriately describe the actual contents of the game, Valve ruled that there was no issue with the initial judgement, thus leaving the tag as is. Due to this, Rideon Japan has stated that there will be no future re-release of the game in the affected regions.
Brave x Junction is available in English on PC (Steam) and PS5/PS4. The Nintendo Switch version launches on December 22, at 9:00 AM PST in North America, and 3:00 PM CET in Europe.
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