Diablo 4 Launches in China with significant censorship
Beijing, China – After over two years of anticipation, Diablo 4 is now available in China, but with ample alterations to comply with the country’s strict content regulations. The most visible changes involve the removal of depictions of blood, skeletal remains, and imagery associated with death.
The action RPG from Blizzard Entertainment was one of the few foreign games officially approved by the National press and Publication Governance of China, a process finalized in july.However, gaining access to the Chinese market required significant modifications to the game’s aesthetic.
Notably, all instances of blood have been replaced with a obvious, brown powder-like effect. Given Diablo 4’s core gameplay loop revolves around violent combat resulting in substantial blood splatter, this represents a major visual shift.
Perhaps the most striking change involves the boss ”Death Wandering,” originally a ghostly skeleton. In the Chinese version, this enemy has been redesigned as a giant construct composed of rocks and boulders. It is indeed widely anticipated that similar alterations have been applied to other skeletal enemies throughout the game.
Even seemingly minor details have been adjusted; Blizzard has modified certain in-game icons to remove depictions of skulls. “Somehow, Penetrating Shot is scarier than the skulls,” noted HobbyConsolas.
Diablo 4 officially launched in China on December 12th. These changes demonstrate the lengths to which developers must go to navigate China’s censorship policies and access its vast gaming market.
