One of the compromises gamers have been begging Nexon and Cwavesoft for in Hyper Universe is a toggle switch for SJWs. This would mean that people who don’t like sexy women or looking at overtly sexy women in games could turn on SJW Mode and it would censor all the overt sexiness. Turning the mode off would revert it back to its true uncensored form. Well, Nexon heard all the complaints about an SJW toggle switch in Hyper Universe and decided against it because they said it would “defeat the purpose” of the censorship that was applied to the game.

There have been ongoing threads in the Hyper Universe community about the censorship, which has reached a deafening boiling point for hardcore gamers. After proposing a compromise by suggesting that Nexon keep the censorship but add a toggle so gamers can access the uncensored mode, Raz, one of the community managers responded in the Discord chat, saying…

“We are trying to bring Hyper Universe worldwide, and due to standards set by local governments and review boards, adding a toggle option would negate our efforts, so we will not be adding one at this time.”

When pressed further about the matter in a separate thread, another community manager, Pex, reiterated the same thing as Raz, but also added that the change was also done in consideration of ratings boards such as the ESRB and PEGI…

“I see that you got an answer, and it is correct. We will not be adding a toggle. Why? Because to do so would negate the rationale and effects of making the changes in the first place.” “[…] As mentioned, ratings are just one factor that formed our decision. As for the examples you mentioned, some of those titles have been through their own censorship battles with their communities.” “HU still has sexy characters, it’s just toned down a little.”

This response angered a lot of gamers because there have been games rated Teen that have been far more sexual than the depictions made in Hyper Universe, such as Street Fighter V or King of Fighters XIV.

There is the possible argument that Nexon could be aiming to put the game on home consoles and are gunning for an E10+ ESRB rating or a PEGI 7 rating in Europe. Of course, the community managers don’t clarify what ratings they’re actually worried about, especially since they mention that the characters are still sexy, which would likely forfeit it a rating under PEGI 12 or anything under a Teen rating from the ESRB.

Gamers have become increasingly frustrated with the situation involving Hyper Universe, especially after the developers announced that the censorship being applied to the English version of the game will be applied retroactively to the Korean version as well. All future additions and expansion to the game will also be designed with SJWs in mind in order to make sure that some gamers don’t feel “uncomfortable”, according to the Nexon community managers.

In response, various gamers have been requesting refunds in mass and issuing negative reviews on the Steam page. After the latest announcement about the censorship, nearly 2,000 gamers requested a refund for Hyper Universe. Previous to that, nearly 4,000 people requested a refund after the initial news came out about the game being censored.