Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will keep the term “psychopath” and ramp up gore, devs say 

Capcom’s Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster (DRDR) was announced for a September 19 launch on PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The new title will overhaul the original Dead Rising’s graphics and improve playability and AI behavior (making it closer to a remake). But what about censorship? DRDR’s developers recently made comments on what players can expect. 

The original zombie-killing action game Dead Rising released back in 2006. A lot has changed in the past 18 years in terms of both official video game rating standards and public opinions, which means modern reimaginings are likely to come with certain revisions. In a recent interview with Famitsu, Dead Rising Deluxe’s producers Masachika Kawata and Kei Morimoto addressed the topic of how much of DRDR has been adapted to modern day values. 

Capcom’s Kawata notes that the team strived to make “the minimum necessary” adjustments to adapt Dead Rising to the current times. The developers apparently reexamined how appropriate the game’s use of the term “psychopath” was. For context, “psychopath” refers to human enemies in Dead Rising who display criminal insanity or are evil and opportunistic. However, after consulting with legal and marketing consultants both in Japan and overseas, the developers decided to stick with the same name in the remaster. 

Interestingly, Kawata notes that Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster will have more “extreme” depictions of gore than the original game. In order to pass the game rating board, the developers did not include decapitation, but it seems we will be seeing limbs and torsos flying about. It is important to note that this comment is in the context of the Japanese CERO Z rating, so there could be discrepancies with overseas versions.  

As a general statement, Kawata says “Basically, we’re trying to reproduce the original game as much as possible, but please have understanding for certain changes in expressions that may appear.”  

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster is scheduled to be released on September 19 for the PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.