Rise of the Ronin's Korean Release Cancelled Following Commentary Controversy

I wonder if this is going to result in a PR mess for Sony in Korea. And right before Stellar Blade was set to become a worldwide coming out party for the Korea-Sony collaboration. Having to pull a major PlayStation console exclusive because of this sticky situation can’t sit well with Koreans.

I’d never claim to know who’s in the right here, but apparently the game is tackling a very touchy subject.

Idk. Just don't release it in Korea then.

Don't punish the rest of us who don't give af.

That's unfortunate. I'm not going to pretend to understand all the specifics of the issue but I feel for any Korean players that wanted to play the game.

@Bolverkr
They are still releasing it everywhere else. It's just the Korean release that is affected.

Might be a bad comparison, but I've never heard of viking games getting cancelled in the UK despite having similar occurrences?

@Ultrasmiles That's because the UK isn't Korea, Japan or China who typically get very funny over stuff like this.

This is very unfortunate. Probably the best move for the time being. In shining a light on this, perhaps some level heads can use this situation to forge a mutual path forward. Human history is full of atrocities committed by controversial figures. No country, culture, creed or race is immune. It is so important to study, discuss and represent history in all of its ugly and human truth.

@Th3solution The game itself didn't touch any subject as far as we know that's why the korean government didn't do something to stop the release. It was the developer who made de comparison.

Now, this was actually good PR for Sony. Other reports have claimed korean users have praised the move from Sony to put the game out completely from Korea.
Sony investing so much money in Korea right now was probably the reason they acted so quick. So it looks like it won't have any consequences for Sony.

The problem is actually for KT LOL, Sony is one of the biggest income sources they have and this could actually ruin that relationship so hopefully they apologize or something.

@Ultrasmiles I mean, it is a bad comparison, as 1890-1945 is a lot more recent than say, 700ad lol but yeah... Despite it being from views from the mid 1800's (still 1000 years more recent than the Viking era lol) it is clearly something that was a part of Japanese thinking and politics during the wars, and something that could be seen as being glorified with those comments.

I'm pretty sure the dude that said it didn't mean he loved Yoshida's thoughts and willingness to act on them in the way that it is being taken though, I.e openly supporting invasion/annexation/murder, because why would you say that. It is hopefully going to be a lot more complex than that, and we will see what aspects of Yoshida's views are portrayed in game.

For me, it just makes me want to learn more about the period, see how the game depicts things, and seek alternate views on the same events to hopefully have a deeper understanding. I imagine it is solely focused on the actual in state Japanese affairs though, and their ruling classes, rather than their actions elsewhere.

The real interesting thing will be to see how The USA is portrayed, as they are the ones that set everything in motion, as they tend to do. And the setting of the game is smack bang when the US forced Japan to open up to the west.

is it still releasing in the USA and Canada?

@phoenix1 Yeah it's only cancelled in South Korea.

Well I suppose it's guaranteed less sales now. I'm not sure how many it would've sold in South Korea though to begin with so maybe it won't impact sales too much.

I guess Sony doesn't want to risk it in case something in the game does piss them off even further, especially when they are trying to establish the PlayStation brand in South Korea.

So the Koreans that don't care about any of the politics (I doubt much of the younger generation were offended) and just wanted to play a potentially great game will now have to what, pay extra to have it imported?

@Th3solution Even if it doesn't, it's a very dumb comment and poorly thought out. Usually best to have a translator because dear lord, that came off really really horrible. For those who aren't aware, much of what Japan did in Korea was akin to what the settlers did to the native Americans. They did their best to, and I don't know what words are bannable here, but they worked very hard to remove the korean from Koreans. So the "insisted on taking action" comment could very well be perceived as agreeing with some very horrible horrible acts.

I highly doubt that was the intention but it's a bad look, like really bad.

Like the amazing lucas t shirt say.why so fragile. Why Korea.its all good.its releasing elsewhere.word up son

@Tecinthebrain My girlfriend is Korean and I'll say right now, there's major bad blood between Korea and Japan. Not a pure unrelenting hatred, but there's a lot of tension. Just a general fear of Japan, as they never exactly backed off. They ceased the occupation but seem to be of the mindset that bygones are bygones, when there's children born as a result of what happened.

@Ravix Very well said. I doubt he's condoning their actions in that period, but it created a firestorm where there really shouldn't have been any. The game centres around these figures and always has, so it's not like Korea doesn't want them present at all. His comment just came across as very "he was a man of action" which, given what many of these crimes consisted of is pretty bad. I'd imagine this will get smoothed over behind the scenes after launch, but he really needs to clarify sooner rather than later because ouch. He made a big error.

@gymratAmarillo I'm with you there. The issue isn't Sony, and believe me as a huge playstation buff I love dishing on how anti consumer they are, but with KT as these comments should have been vetted much better. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up ousted, though I hope not. He screwed up, but a slip of the tongue happens to everyone at some point. Just issue an apology, say "hey, what happened was horrible" and let it be. Sony isn't losing sleep over this move, especially with their drive to work with Korea directly.

history, both good and bad, should not and cannot be erased from memory. those who want to boycott the game in korea should have the right to do so. those who want to experience and play the game in korea should also have the right to do so. but this form of censorship and outright banning of the game is baseless and does nothing to improve korean-japanese relations.

@Tecinthebrain unfortunately, an imported copy likely won't be localized in korean... unless there is an asian release that includes korean language options, i'm not sure.

As usual, most people don’t really understand the situation or comprehend the level of animosity that is felt within Korea towards Japan for what they did. Another thing people need to understand is that Japan never apologised or fully acknowledged these events.

Glorifying important people that drove this era would be similar to a Korean person as glorifying people from the Nazi regime to a Jew.The acts committed upon the Korean population(specifically women)were absolutely abhorrent.

@ChrisDeku i don't disgree with anything you said. yet, by that logic, the world would still be resentful towards germany and all germans, even though the demographic of today had nothing to do with the atrocities of wwii. the world moved on and germany as a nation was forgiven. it is counterproductive to hold grudges for generations since we live in an entirely different world now. something has to give. this applies to conflicts all around the world and not just korean-japanese relations.

@ChrisDeku it's not just Korea either. Look at how Japan treated the manchurins during ww2. Japan's capacity to commit atrocities are well documented. All nations are guilty of some pretty heinous crimes against humanity so its a surprise anything gets released anywhere at all.

@Porco the key thing here is that people are offended because the Director of this game was specifically glorifying and hailing a historical figure as a hero. This person didn’t specifically do anything relating to the invasion of Korea but he was a driver of the mentality of the new state, and creator of the philosophy of the state.

The game director specifically says in a glorifying fashion “he wasn’t just a philosopher, he insisted on the importance of taking action” while showing himself taking pictures of his statue and shrines dedicated to him. However, those “actions” that he put importance on was aggressive nationalism, the aggressive actions that would lead later to abhorrent crimes committed against other states. This is a pretty awkward area. Japan has never acknowledged that any of their actions were wrong so, these people are still hailed as heroes.

Christ almighty that’s some truly stupid comments. I know that Japan has its nationalist tendencies like a few other choice countries but eesh, the Korea stuff really does not reflect well and it’s remarkable how unapologetic a lot of people are. Given the treatment during the war and the many invasions, it does come across like somebody trying to talk about how good Adolf’s paintings were.

Japan in the early 1900s were essentially no different to the Nazies. But the main difference to the Germans is that their right wing party even today still do not fully acknowledge their past wrongdoing and even censor out their criminal past from history textbooks.

I understand the move, but I wonder if a trigger warning at the start of the game would have been sufficient, similar to how Mafia 3 warned about racist themes in the game. I'm typically more in favor of leaving artistic expression as is and disseminating it as much as possible, while providing important historical context, when necessary.

For example: "This game depicts Shōin Yoshida and his teachings; however, while this game does not villainize Yoshida within the context of the story, we recognize him as a controversial historical individual who advocated for the subjugation of the Korean people. To learn more about Yoshida and his legacy, please follow the link below."

Of course, if Sony is pulling the release to get ahead of a potential Korean boycott and media frenzy that would follow, that would be something else entirely.

@DeathlySW @Ravix Yes, I’m thinking along those lines. As someone who lives in the U.S., I don’t really comprehend the full impact of historical relations on the other side of the world (similar to how I feel about the Palestinian conflict) so am uncomfortable formulating any firm opinions. But I do suspect that the comments by Yasuda about Yoshida were less about glorifying the Japanese state’s war crime atrocities and more about defining the influence of one of characters of the time (I’m not sure if Yoshida is actually in the game itself though)
As a comparison for my Western brain to understand it, I also thought of the treatment of the Native Americans over here, or perhaps the atrocities of American slavery (which incidentally is a little more contemporary with the time period for this game). Either subject stirs painful (and relatively recent) historical feelings and controversy, so I think that’s why they are mostly left alone in the video game space and even characters adjacent to the events have to be handled cautiously.

But back on subject with Rise of the Ronin, I was reluctant to commit to the game anyways, and so now I more so want to wait for reviews to see how this all plays out. I doubt the subject matter is mishandled in the game, and honestly I have piqued interest now in learning about the time period in question.

@ChrisDeku i hear you. this is a sensitive subject and the director should have been careful with his choice of words. but are people offended by what the director said or is it the content in the game that is the problem? both? there didn't seem to be a problem with the game's content prior, so it sounds like the director's comments is what has warranted the ban which is an emotional and irrational response if i have ever seen one. ultimatetly, the gaming community in korea is mature enough to make up their own mind about the game. they should have the choice to boycott it or play it but the choice should be theirs alone. it's not for the government to decide unless people are in favour of censorship and dictatorships which they are not, at least in south korea that is.

@Marquez i hear you. that said, there are many far right neo-nazi groups in modern day germany who are non apologetic of their country's history and in fact hold onto the same ideals from wwii. that is very concerning, but it would be unfair to judge an entire group of people by the distubing actions of a small minority. it is odd that someone's opinion about a historical figure (which were taken out of context and thus controversial for some people) is enough to warrant a game to be banned. similarly, it is odd to ban russian music in the united states due to western nations not being on friendly terms with russia currently. censoring culture and history is a slippery slope. ultimatetly, the gaming community in korea is mature enough to make up their own mind about the game. whether they choose to boycott it or play it should be their choice alone. it's not for the government to decide unless people are in favour of censorship and dictatorships which they are not, at least in south korea that is.

@Porco The South Korean government has nothing to do with this story. Sony has decided not to release the game in Korea. It wasn't mandated by the government.

@wildcat_kickz thanks for clarifying. i jumped the gun in assuming the government or various lobby groups pressured sony to enact the ban (it wouldn't surprise me if that is the case behind the scenes if this remains in effect but that is just speculation on my part). if it was in fact sony's call alone, that is even more surprising since that would be a very strong PR move to seperate itself from team ninja's director at all costs... yet, is unfair to the gaming community in korea and weird in a sense considering the game will still release elsewhere.

Is it canceled in Best Korea or worst Korea?

@Ravix I hate to break it to you... but there are still a lot of closet nationalists who want Japan to return to being an imperial state... His comments give serious pause to me approaching his beliefs depicted in this game.