Cyberpunk 2077 is a problematic game. More than for what it is as a game or as a product, for what it represents for the industry and for the people who have worked on it. For the bad practices of the industry it showed us, and for all the other problems related to it. First of all, perhaps also the unsustainability of development. Yet one of the few things that have been done right in this area has gone completely under people's radar.
CD Projekt Red's new game will in fact feature a nudity filter within a work that bears Cyberpunk in the name. It might seem like a trifle, or a simple maneuver that has few practical uses, yet it is not something to be underestimated in terms of atteggiamento. This is a precedent, and it does nothing but support a practice that has already become common in our industry today.
Finally, video games want to open up to those who really want to enjoy them.
Who is this filter for?
To report this news is a simple tweet from CDPR's QA Lead, which affirms with a solemn "Yes." the presence of a nudity filter within the game. Of course, it was probably created for very simple reasons: it is for content creators and streamers not to be banned from their respective platforms. But, even if such a choice is guided by obvious practical reasons, there is also to consider how many and what effects this choice can have on people.
Yes.
- Łukasz Babiel (@pjpkowski) November 22, 2020
To learn more:
Cyberpunk 2077: postponed to the gold phase?
This news, announced by some newspapers in worst possible way, it is not an appeal to people's sensibility. Not only that, at least. Because of course, this is also partly the case. There are those who, for religious, ideological or personal reasons, despise nudity in video games. There are those who are under age and would just like to enjoy the rest of the game. There are those who still have a TV in their living room and want to avoid starting sex scenes in front of their parents. But Cyberpunk is also about sex. It is part of the plot, and is, until proven otherwise, also one strong artistic choice.
Who really helps this choice is an almost negligible category of people, who, however, like us, love the medium. We are talking about “sex repulsed” individuals, repulsed by sex or genitals, and who, in general, do not want to see nudity scenes. These are usually asexual people or otherwise in the gray spectrum (the one that also includes demisexuals, aegosexuals and many others), who wish to be away from sex. It is not a question of sensitivity: it is how a person is. A sexual orientation, which in no way is a simple choice, but rather it is something they feel they are. People who, until now, have had to skip those cutscenes that others have been waiting anxiously for. People who still had to limit their experience to safeguard themselves.
People who lost pieces of plot, dialogues, for the simple fact of not wanting to attend what could even be a torture for them.
Cyberpunk without nudity - Lack of artistic respect
But it is considerable censorship, this? Can we talk about limitations to the creative possibilities of developers? In my opinion, That's not the case. Not because this does not represent a certain stake in the experience of those who play it with this filter, that is obvious to anyone. Cyberpunk is about modified bodies, about the man who is no longer man: sex is an integral part of its message. But because, after all, it does not limit the real experience of those who want to fully enjoy it.
To learn more:
Demon's Souls doesn't let you choose the difficulty, but includes 180 help videos
If in movies or TV series it is still not possible to influence what we are watching, in video games this is the norm. Precisely because of the completely malleable nature of their experience, we are able to allow even people who cannot enjoy a certain work to appreciate it at least in part. What Cyberpunk 2077 gives people the freedom to choose how to enjoy their adventure. Of course, it will not be like that of those who play it without the filter. But those who could not, until then, can finally enjoy an opera that they want to play. This is true accessibility.
It is not an easy mode in Demon's Souls, which does not need it, because it is already tailor-made for each player, but a real help to the players. And to think that until yesterday, with The Witcher 3, people suffering from Motion Sickness they couldn't fix the FOV. Video games are, at least, trying to change. Not thanks to CDPR, but thanks to the awareness acquired by us players and the desire to make our passion more accessible. My dream is that, one day, even a person without limbs can have fun with the PlayStation ...
The next step is to install prosthetics (like Venom Snake's) to play them better.
