Tales of Arisedeveloper and publisher Bandai Namco released a new statement after a censorship rumor surfaced, claiming the JRPG was getting censored by Sony on PS4 and PS5, as opposed to its Xbox and PC Steam versions.

WasTales of Arisecensored? Statement from Bandai Namco

Tales of Arise, just like most JRPGs, has some fanservice in it, such as swimsuit costumes, a staple of Japanese games DLCs nowadays. However, a rumor has emerged several days ago, claiming Sony censored the game ahead of release on PlayStation platforms.

Answering our German peers atXboxDynasty, Bandai Namco denied the rumor claiming that this kind of content would get censored on PS4 and PS5 compared to the PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X versions of the game. Bandai Namco stated all versions ofTales of Arisewill include the same features and story.

Bandai Namco:“Tales of Arisewill be released on June 12, 2025, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. All versions will include the same story and features, without any form of censorship.”

This completely denies the rumor going around stating that some scenes, costumes, dialogues, and symbols would be censored on PlayStation by Sony. This isn’t surprising seeing that rumor was way too farfetched and dubious.

How the “Tales of Arisewas hit by Sony’s censorship” rumor started

This rumor started with a post on 4Chan’s /V/ board, and this should already be enough to tell you how dubious it was. What made it even more untrustworthy is that it claimed that a hot springs scene was in the game but deleted from the PS4 and PS5 versions. As far as I know, since when this all started in 2018, Sony never deleted whole scenes like this, and instead used light beams. Most notably on a select few Japan-only Bishoujo games.

The censorship rumor also stated that every female costume in the game was made less risque on PlayStation. Except that, if you’ve followed the Japanese promotion of the game, we’ve already seen multiple times the DLC costumes ofTales of Arise, and they’re identical on all platforms. Lastly, the rumor also claimed that gender symbols found in some areas of the game were removed by Sony. Making it clear the whole thing was a typical hoax attempt to rile up a certain type of people.

It’s definitely true that as far as 2018, Sony USA started pressuring Japanese developers to censor fanservice content. There are several cases you can use as examples, such as how thePS4 USA version ofDevil May Cry Vhad some nudity initially censored.

However, at the end of the day, from 2018 to 2021, only a handful of games were impacted. It’s definitely a mistake to believe Sony’s interference is affecting every single Japanese game. And tons of fanservice-themed, Japanese-stylized games are still releasing on PS4, and now on PS5 just fine.

One good example is Compile Heart’s PS5 exclusiveGo! Go! 5 Jigen Game Neptune: re★Versewhich had breasts physics, lolishota characters, risque swimsuits, and everything without any censorship. I also recommend taking a look at PS4 exclusivesShin Sakura Taisenand13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.

Tales of Arisewill be launching on September 9 in Japan, and September 10 worldwide. Ademo is availableon all release platforms except PC. You can always reach me on Twitter@A_iyane07to discuss theTales ofseries or Japanese stuff in general.