{"id":56204,"date":"2026-01-27T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=56204"},"modified":"2026-01-27T16:58:28","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T07:58:28","slug":"resident-evil-requiem-pushes-the-limits-of-its-age-rating-in-japan-but-its-not-gory-just-for-the-sake-of-it-director-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/resident-evil-requiem-pushes-the-limits-of-its-age-rating-in-japan-but-its-not-gory-just-for-the-sake-of-it-director-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Resident Evil Requiem pushes the limits of its age rating in Japan, but\u00a0it’s\u00a0not\u00a0gory\u00a0just\u00a0for the sake of it, director says\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While it only takes one look to know that Resident Evil Requiem<\/strong> is a very violent title, director Koshi Nakanishi says that the intent was not to double down on gratuitous gore. Still, he considers a certain degree of bloodshed necessary for a compelling horror experience, so his team is \u201cpushing itself\u201d to make sure the Japanese version isn\u2019t held back by domestic rating standards.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike some past Capcom titles, Resident Evil Requiem will be releasing in Japan with only one version, rated CERO Z (ages\u00a018 and up). Commenting on this decision in a\u00a0joined\u00a0media\u00a0interview\u00a0attended\u00a0by\u00a0AUTOMATON<\/a>, Nakanishi\u00a0said:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince the\u00a0Resident Evil 4 remake,\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0gone with\u00a0releasing a\u00a0CERO Z\u00a0version\u00a0only, so this time\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0basically following\u00a0that same approach. The footage shown at the recent showcase was also entirely\u00a0from\u00a0the domestic CERO Z version for Japan.\u00a0

There are\u00a0even\u00a0moments where you might think,\u00a0\u2018Wait, this still counts as CERO Z?\u2019,\u00a0so\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0say\u00a0we’re\u00a0actually pushing\u00a0ourselves more than people might expect. That said,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not that we want to make things gruesome for the sake of it, but when depicting shocking scenes or tense battles, a certain level of that kind of expression is necessary. We also want players to fully experience the direction and presentation without holding anything back.”\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nakanishi\u2019s statement comes in response to a question regarding Leon crushing a zombie\u2019s head in-game, given that Japan\u2019s rating body, CERO, is notoriously strict about such depictions.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For reference, the\u00a0previous\u00a0mainline entry in terms of continuity, Resident Evil Village,\u00a0was\u00a0released in Japan with separate CERO D and CERO Z versions, with the\u00a0CERO D version\u00a0(rated ages 17 and up)\u00a0toning\u00a0down\u00a0gory\u00a0scenes.\u00a0The CERO Z version is less censored,\u00a0bringing it\u00a0closer to\u00a0the international\u00a0version, but\u00a0it still\u00a0reduces\u00a0blood\u00a0and gore,\u00a0and\u00a0removes\u00a0all\u00a0decapitations.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Resident Evil Requiem carries the same CERO Z rating as the less-censored version of Resident Evil Village, it looks like the developers are stretching what is acceptable within Japan\u2019s entertainment rating organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resident Evil Requiem is set to release on February 27, 2026 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows (Steam). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related:\u00a0<\/strong>
\u201cNow I have to buy this on day one.\u201d Resident Evil Requiem\u2019s aged-up Leon Kennedy crowned \u201chot uncle\u201d in Japan<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resident Evil Requiem\u2019s dual-protagonist system will be like repeatedly \u201cjumping into a cold bath after a hot sauna.\u201d We ask the\u00a0devs\u00a0about Leon\u2019s role and \u201cRE4-style\u201d battle mechanics<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Resident Evil Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi on why the game will be releasing only as a CERO Z title in Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":56207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-56204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nResident Evil Requiem pushes the limits of its age rating in Japan, but\u00a0it's\u00a0not\u00a0gory\u00a0just\u00a0for the sake of it, director says\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Resident Evil Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi on why the game will be releasing only as a CERO Z title in Japan.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/resident-evil-requiem-pushes-the-limits-of-its-age-rating-in-japan-but-its-not-gory-just-for-the-sake-of-it-director-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Resident Evil Requiem pushes the limits of its age rating in Japan, but\u00a0it's\u00a0not\u00a0gory\u00a0just\u00a0for the sake of it, director says\u00a0 - 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