Gory mystery thriller Martha is Dead censored on PS4, PS5, dev says

Martha Is Deceased, an upcoming first-person thriller by developer LKA and Wired Productions, won’t have parity across its versions. The game’s Xbox and Windows PC versions will both launch exactly as the developer planned, on February 24, but the PlayStation version will have content modifications. Wired Productions announced the changes in plans via Twitter on FridayJust two weeks away from its release.

“It is with regret that we have had to modify the experience on the PS5 and PS4 versions, with some elements no longer playable,” the developer said on Twitter. “After over four years of passion and hard work, developer LKA now required extra time to make these unplanned changes.”

The game’s launch date on all platforms will be met, but physical copies of the game are being delayed for PS4 or PS5. It will launch on Windows PC and Xbox Series X without any delay.

As for why the game is getting censored on PlayStation, it’s currently unclear. Polygon has reached Sony Interactive Entertainment to get more information and will post updates when it responds.

However, there is a graphic clip circulating on social media that’s making players uncomfortable. The clip involves slicing a dead woman’s face off — first on the right side, then the forehead, and then the left. As the cut is being made, the clip shows the player taking the head of the victim off.

Wired Productions stated in its statement that the developer had communicated this to them. Martha is Dead is intended for “adult audiences only” and features “potentially discomforting scenes and themes that may distress some players”— and that the developer offers multiple in-game warnings about that content. The aforementioned clip earns its “discomforting” description, though some would argue it shouldn’t be up to PlayStation to censor that content for players. The ESRB rated Martha is DeadM stands for intense violence, blood, gore and sexual themes.

Martha Is DeceasedThe game is set in Tuscany near the end of World War II in 1944. A woman named Martha is found dead in the game’s opening, and players will take on the role of Martha’s twin sister in order to understand her death during one of the darkest periods of human history.