The whole drama makes no sense in my opinion and is either just marketing or some people have little idea about development. First of all, the CEO himself didn't talk about censorship. When Capcom censored DMC5/Trish, Capcom was pretty transparent and explained the move. The censorship was quickly patched out because Capcom was cautious about what was allowed due to Sony's new guidelines. Since then, I haven't heard of a single game where an adult character or appearance was censored. I know of any anime games, but there are none other than that. So it doesn't make any sense that Sony would want to censor something when genitals are visible in games like Conan or Cyberpunk.
The example with China could make sense, because the console market there is small, so Sony wouldn't "censor" all versions. In my opinion, this is really a design decision by the studio. The "censorship" is quite complex, which suggests that some designs weren't final. One outfit has more lace, in another she wears tights. Both are designs that Shift Up also uses in Nikke, especially tights and stockings. The "censorship" doesn't mean you see less, but rather some body features are highlighted more by such details. There are numerous outfits that, apart from her "nude outfit", are also much more provocative. I'm surprised that one outfit is included because you always look up her skirt, whether you want it or not, which is known to be problematic in Japan. The bikini and lingerie outfit that is difficult to unlock are a bit hotter than the supposedly censored ones. As I said, it makes no sense given the amount of sexy outfits.
It wouldn't be the first time that the final version of a game has art design changes compared to the gold version. Sony worked with Xdev on the title itself and saw the outfits beforehand. If something was censored, it would have happened much sooner. I'm also relatively sure that there were designs that Sony didn't want to see in the game. In addition to Eve, there is another female character who can be dressed in outfits and appears young. Sony will certainly see a problem if she is portrayed in a similarly sexy way.
Ultimately, I believe what the developer says and use my brain. What some people are saying simply doesn't make sense. The same goes for the supposedly reduced gore effects. There are plenty of comparison videos where it is clear that nothing has been cut. But I would also be surprised if Sony, who have released titles like LoU and GoT that in my opinion show more violence/gore, wanted to subsequently cut an 18/M rated title.
The whole drama is just embarrassing in my opinion. It's been a long time since I saw a video game with so much eye candy in the form of outfits and the character's figure. Now such a drama and even starting a petition with the hashtag "FreeStellarBlade" is almost embarrassing and could lead to there being even fewer games like this in the future. Perhaps it would make sense for Sony and Shift Up to take a stand, but as the CEO has already said, he can say what he wants, some people will still not believe what he says. It's a shame, because the game is really good, but some woke and anti-woke trolls use every little thing to distract the focus from the actual game. It remains to be seen whether Shift Up will ever make another title of this kind after criticism about first too much skin, then too little skin.
