THE creators of a chilling new horror game say that the title is so disturbing they’ve been forced to censor it on PlayStation.
In a statement, UK developer Wired Productions said that content would be removed from the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of “Martha is Dead” ahead of its release later this month.
The Watford-based firm did not specify what content was being wiped from the title. The PC and Xbox versions are unaffected.
“Martha is Dead is a narrative adventure recommended for adult audiences only,” Wired wrote on Twitter on February 11.
“Play consists of potentially discomforting scenes and themes that may distress some players.”
Following a review by Sony, parts of the game have been deemed too graphic or distressing for its storefront.
Wired said in its statement that engineers had been forced to “modify the experience on the PS5 and PS4 versions [of Martha Is Dead]”.
The resulting changes have rendered “some elements” of the game no longer playable.
Set in Italy in 1944, “Martha is Dead” is described as a “dark first-person psychological thriller”.
The game’s harrowing story takes place following the discovery of the “desecrated body” of a woman called Martha who is found drowned under mysterious circumstances.
The title is said to “blur the lines between reality, superstition and the tragedy of war.”
According to its description on the online video game platform Steam, Martha is Dead contains depictions of “blood, dismemberment, disfigurement of human bodies, minor nudity, and self-harm.”
Wired, which has developed games such as “The Falconer” and “Those Who Remain”, said that the game will still launch digitally on February 24 for the PS4 and PS5.
However, the last-minute changes mean that the physical version will have to be delayed to a “yet to be disclosed date”.
“Developer LKA now requires extra time to make these unplanned changes,” according to the statement.
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Personalised smart guns, which can be fired only by verified users, may finally become available to U.S. consumers this year.
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