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Ryu Hayabusa wondering where the ladies went

Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Xbox Trailer Removes Mature Content

Gamers worldwide were shocked to see the reveal and shadow-drop of Ninja Gaiden 2 Black during the Xbox Developer Direct 2025. Almost a day later, gamers have noticed something odd. The Xbox trailer for the title is missing some female ninjas from the Steam and PlayStation 5 trailers.

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For comparison, take a look at the Xbox trailer, which is the same one that was shown during the Direct:

Now, look at the PlayStation 5 video, which is the same as the Steam one:

Confusingly, the Xbox trailer is shorter and has different footage than the other clips. As one X user pointed out, differences start at the 0:35 mark. Other users also chimed in, clearly showing that the Xbox trailer replaced the three female ninjas in the Steam/PlayStation 5 video with masculine monsters.

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I’m on the side that says that this is an odd choice and not that Xbox hates women. If I were to guess, I would say Xbox wanted a less risque version of the Ninja Gaiden 2 Black reveal for the Direct itself and then just uploaded that same footage to its YouTube account. Of course, the Direct featured a lot of blood and gore, which Microsoft was fine with, but “violence ok, semi-nudity bad” is part of the American Dream, after all.

It’s all perfectly fine, though. These female ninjas are still in the actual game, as they appear in the non-Xbox trailers, so all the gamers complaining online about censorship are just doing it for attention. Players can purchase Ninja Gaiden 2 Black on whatever platform they desire and see whatever characters they want. Besides, I heard the real thing to be upset about is how this fancy remaster is closer to Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma than the tough-as-nails original.


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Author
Image of Arthur Damian
Arthur Damian
Arthur Damian has been covering the video game industry for over ten years, and joined The Escapist in 2022. He is a huge fan of platformers, indies, and fighting games, and strives to cover them for The Escapist every chance he gets. Arthur received his Bachelor’s Degree in English from Brooklyn College in 2009. He is also the Editor-in-Chief over at That VideoGame Blog. When he isn’t writing, Arthur enjoys playing games on his Switch and PlayStation 5, and sings the praises of the greatest video game ever, Chrono Trigger, to anyone who will listen.