Martha Is Dead is a 2022 first-person psychological thriller by Wired Productions Wired Productions describes the game as follows:
Martha Is Dead is a dark first-person psychological thriller, set in 1944
Italy, that blurs the lines between reality, superstition and the tragedy of war.
Martha Is Dead is only recommended for an adult audience and is not recommended for players who may find depictions containing blood, dismemberment,
disfigurement of human bodies, minor nudity, and self-harm disturbing.
It seems that Sony have found the game somewhat distasteful and have demanded cuts before it is allowed to be played on PlayStation. One example of controversial
content is provided by a Forbes article:
While there may be a few instances of "too far" violence, the one that keeps getting brought up is that a player cuts off the face of their dead sister. And it's not
just that they cut it off, it's that the action is actually a minigame where you have to move the blade around and peel the face off.
Wired Productions have down explained more in a
statement:
Martha Is Dead is a narrative adventure recommended for adult audiences only, with play consisting of potentially discomforting scenes and themes that may distress some players. Both Wired Productions and
LKA have always been open and honest about Martha Is Dead content, with the sensitive depictions in play consistently communicated to the media since the game was announced in 2019. This content is also flagged clearly and repeatedly within the game
itself before play begins.
It is with regret that we have had to modify the experience on the PS5 and PS4 versions, with some elements no longer playable. After over four years of passion and hard work, Developer LKA now requires
extra time to make these unplanned changes. Martha Is Dead, as a result, will still launch digitally on both PS5 and PS4 on Thursday, February 24th, 2022, but the physical retail release will be delayed to a yet to be disclosed date; although we
anticipate this to only be a small number of weeks. Our physical edition will still contain the bonus content of a double-sided poster, digital tarot cards and Martha Is Dead Digital EP. We will update players with the date we ship this edition as soon
as we have the information.
The PC and Xbox versions of Martha Is Dead are both unaffected by these developments and will launch with the full unedited gameplay as planned.
We look forward to players
experiencing the work of LKA on Thursday February 24th, 2022.
