For years, AAA game developers have actively worked to demonize traditional femininity, enforcing aggressive censorship under the guise of progressivism. Meanwhile, Western cultural imperialism extends through corporate pressure, with companies like VISA and Mastercard strong-arming Japanese retailers and platforms into removing specific forms of erotica.

Adding to this hypocrisy, Nintendo of America and Europe have now begun scrutinizing fan service and suggestive themes in games designed for heterosexual audiences. In this landscape, free-to-play gacha games have stood as one of the few bastions where gamers could appreciate the unfiltered female form.

Yet, Western puritanism continues its relentless march toward global homogenization. The latest casualty is the popular mobile gacha game Azur Lane, which has bowed to censorship demands imposed by Google.

Azur Lane is a popular gacha game that blends naval combat with anthropomorphic “anime” characters. Developed by Shanghai Manjuu and Xiamen Yongshi, it debuted in 2017 and has since gained a loyal following.

The game’s premise revolves around commanding “shipgirls,” personifications of historical naval warships, to battle against enemies like the “Siren” or engage in PvP skirmishes. These shipgirls, designed in an anime art style, belong to factions based on real-world navies, such as the Eagle Union (USA), Royal Navy (UK), Iron Blood (Germany), and others.

Combat is a mix of manual or auto-play mechanics, involving torpedoes, airstrikes, and artillery fire. Outside of battles, players manage upgrades, craft equipment, and maintain a dormitory where shipgirls rest and gain bonuses.

One of Azur Lane’s standout features is its unapologetic embrace of fanservice. Shipgirl designs cater to a wide range of preferences, featuring eye-catching and often exaggerated aesthetics, from revealing outfits to provocative poses.

Characters are crafted with distinct personalities and designs that combine historical references with anime tropes, ranging from the elegant to the adorable, including busty types, tsunderes, and cute lolis. Costumes frequently highlight themes like swimsuits, maid outfits, wedding dresses, and seasonal attire tied to events such as summer, Halloween, or Christmas.

The game further elevates its fanservice appeal through Live2D (L2D) costumes, premium animated skins that bring characters to life with dynamic, interactive artwork. Unlike static designs, L2D costumes feature fluid animations where shipgirls breathe, blink, and react naturally.

Players can interact directly with these skins, triggering unique animations and voice lines by tapping different areas of the screen. For example, a playful poke might provoke a flustered or bashful reaction, enhancing the sense of immersion. These features, combined with high-quality artistry, make Azur Lane a standout in the gacha game space, offering an experience that appeals to both history buffs and anime enthusiasts.

Azur Lane’s enduring success lies in its ability to captivate a diverse audience through its strategic gameplay, rich character lore, and unapologetic fanservice. A prime example of this is its Live2D (L2D) costumes, which provide an immersive experience by bringing the game’s beautiful, expressive characters to life.

This seamless blend of gameplay depth and aesthetic appeal has helped the game maintain its popularity years after its release. However, Azur Lane has recently come under scrutiny from app hosting platforms like Google Play.

It was announced that Azur Lane would be removing the ability to purchase and acquire a total of five L2D outfits from the game, with the sole consolation being that players who already own these skins will retain access to them.

According to the developers, this decision was driven by “unforeseen circumstances related to the Google Play Store policy.” The affected outfits include:

Shinano – Visions of Fantasy (L2D)

Napoli – Dreamy Night (L2D)

Hindenburg – Delirious Duel (L2D)

Chitose – Summer Shine

And lastly Atago – Summer March (L2D).

It’s baffling why Google has chosen now, of all times, to intervene, especially considering that Azur Lane’s Summer March costume for Atago isn’t just a fan favorite but one of the longest-standing Live2D animated costumes in the game, having been introduced back in October 2018.

Clearly, the landscape has shifted, and there’s a strong possibility that VISA and Mastercard are involved. Both companies have a history of pressuring Japanese retailers to remove “problematic” material from their offerings under the guise of “protecting their brand.” This latest development may be yet another extension of their efforts.

Like other gacha games, Azur Lane relies on in-app purchases. On Android devices, these transactions are processed through the Google Play Store, allowing payments via credit/debit cards (VISA, Mastercard, American Express), Google Play Balance, and PayPal.

Given Azur Lane’s raunchy and suggestive content, it’s unlikely this situation stems from its age rating on the Play Store. Instead, it feels more like a calculated move in an ongoing effort to sanitize content under the banner of corporate policies and global standards.

In the United States, Azur Lane holds a Teen rating on the Play Store, similar to other mobile gacha games with suggestive content, including those featuring flashy Live2D animations. Titles like BrownDust2, which far surpasses Azur Lane in terms of seductive designs, also maintain a T for Teen rating. In contrast, games like Blue Archive receive a Mature 17+ rating, as does the newly introduced Horizon Walker.

Google, like any major corporation, prioritizes profit, and Azur Lane is no exception to their lucrative ecosystem. According to Sensor Tower, the game consistently ranks among the top-performing gacha titles, generating millions of dollars in monthly revenue through in-app purchases.

It’s hard to believe Google would jeopardize such a cash cow under the guise of sanitized moderation. Instead, the pressure seems more plausible to stem from VISA and Mastercard. These financial giants have a track record of influencing platforms and retailers to crack down on provocative or “problematic” content, and their influence could easily extend to Azur Lane’s provocative costumes and animations, majority of which are recent additions, while others have been staples for years.

If this theory holds, we might see similar interventions targeting other popular mobile gacha games. Titles like BrownDust2, Blue Archive, and SHIFT UP’s Goddess of Victory: NIKKE could become the next casualties of this corporate-driven push to sanitize content under the guise of “brand protection.”

Reports suggest that similar measures will affect Azur Lane players on iOS, as the game shares the same client version across Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store for Android devices. This highlights the growing need for developers to provide offsite or alternative versions of their games, bypassing the constraints imposed by major app storefronts.

Solutions could include dedicated PC clients or smaller, independent app platforms, such as South Korea’s OneStore, which currently offers the full 18+ version of Horizon Walker featuring nudity, unlike its censored counterpart on the Play Store.

Another method would follow the approach of Blue Archive, another popular gacha game, which operates across three distinct versions. Its Japanese version, launched in February 2021, is exclusive to Japan and is the first to receive the latest game content, published by YOSTAR, the same company responsible for Azur Lane in the region.

Meanwhile, the Chinese version is heavily censored, a reflection of China’s stringent regulations aimed at stifling foreign competition in the gacha gaming market. The global version is further split into two unique builds to cater to different audiences and content policies.

These examples demonstrate that offering multiple versions tailored to specific regions or platforms is not only a viable strategy but an increasingly necessary one in navigating the complex landscape of censorship and regulation.

If you’re below the age threshold for the mature version, app stores will default to Blue Archive’s teen-rated rendition, which tones down the sex appeal. This decision to split the game into two builds was made by Nexon in late 2022, following pressure from the Korean Game Rating and Administration Committee (GRAC). The GRAC demanded that Blue Archive either adjust its age rating, potentially alienating a portion of its player base or modify its artwork to comply with regulations.

Given that the game had already faced backlash from global players over censored artwork, the development team opted for the proactive approach of offering two distinct versions with separate age ratings. This ensured that both younger and mature audiences could enjoy the game without compromise.

Moving forward, offering full uncensored APKs via official websites to bypass app store restrictions should become a common practice for developers of gacha and mobile games. However, this solution is not without its challenges. For global players, there remains a significant risk that payment processors like VISA and MasterCard will inevitably restrict or block payments to such games, citing their “brand protection” policies thus providing nothing to its developers/publishers.

Despite these hurdles, the trend of mobile games expanding to PC platforms is gaining momentum. Titles like Goddess of Victory: NIKKE, BrownDust2, and soon Horizon Walker are pushing their games onto PC with dedicated launchers. This shift offers multiple advantages: it not only broadens the potential user base but also bypasses the restrictive policies of app stores who may very well have their hands tied by payment processors.

By taking control of their distribution and monetization channels, developers can ensure that their creative visions remain intact while providing players with unfiltered content, increasing the likelihood of them spending money, the sole purpose of a gacha game.

As censorship and regulatory pressures continue to mount, this dual-platform approach might become the standard for mobile game developers seeking to balance creative freedom with global accessibility. It offers a way to appease regulators while retaining the trust and satisfaction of their most dedicated players.