Karma Befalls Sony.

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        We all know that karma exists. Good Karma and Bad Karma. The general rule, what comes around goes around. However, all actions even innocent can carry consequences. The whole world leaves little room for error. Where does Sony land on this discussion. Their recent antics and how it came back at them.

The Last of Us Part II Trailer uploaded officially by Sony for the PlayStation YT Channel.

        The Last of Us Part II will be the epicenter of where the tale begun. The game was leaked early before release and on the last day till release all the cut scenes were leaked out on YouTube. Upon release, the game was praised by critics. However, the audience (predictably) panned the game due to a poorly put together story line that included the deconstruction of characters and etc. I am not going to be talking about the game and I will be more careful with spoilers to the point where I am too vague. The point were going to focus on is the mature themes. People started to point a certain hypocritical thing about the Last of Us Part II's mature themes. Specifically, there was a scene that involved two characters and if you read the game's description at the ESRB website, you will know what I am talking about. Where does this certain scene play a role? The international content policy brought upon by Sony for games on PlayStation and the reasoning when addressed when questioned by Business Insider.

         Since late 2018 when the policy was made, We have to hear of developers having cut down on content to make sure it can be published on PlayStation Platforms regardless of age ratings given by ESRB and CERO. Otherwise, Sony will be blocked from release as we saw with the release of a PSVita and PS4 title. We have to pray and hope that our PlayStation 4 copies of Samurai Shodown and SoulCalibur VI don't get hit by the policy. However, that scene in the Last of Us Part II remains untouched to this day. People are angered by the double standard. However, this situation is where karma came to bite Sony in the butt.

        Censored Gaming uploaded a YouTube video with that cut scene in the Japanese release (SPOILER WARNING). It was revealed that cut scene was altered due to regulations from the CERO. However, this was not the only case. Before release, many outlets covered the game being banned in the middle-east. How does it feels when your content gets excessively censored? Whatever reason it being especially when it comes to "protect feelings," excessive censorship causes inconvenience for creative freedom in which a game developers needs and relies on the most.