Atlus brings the hammer down on Metaphor: ReFantazio spoilers with a new rule prohibiting video thumbnails and titles from ruining the JRPG's story

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Keep those spoilers hidden, please

Metaphor: ReFantazio characters Strohl, the protagonist, Gallica, and Hulkenberg share a shocked, concerned expression.
(Image credit: Atlus / Sega)

Metaphor: ReFantazio is a very story-heavy JRPG, and it seems that Atlus is doing its absolute best to make sure that players aren't spoiled online before they get to experience all its twists and turns for themselves. 

Today, Atlus announced an amendment to its Metaphor: ReFantazio video and streaming distribution guidelines, which now state (translated via Google and DeepL) that users are prohibited from uploading spoilers in video thumbnails and titles online in a way that viewers can't intentionally avoid. This rule has been added onto existing guidelines which ask that players don't upload videos that only include cutscenes playing back to back, as well as uploads of in-game music. 

It's not entirely clear how Atlus plans to take action against anyone who breaks this rule and spreads spoilers around, although further down the guidelines page, the publisher notes that it may delete or suspend "videos or broadcasts that we deem inappropriate." With that in mind, it sounds like the publisher does have the power to straight-up remove any particularly egregious spoilers, although perhaps it's hoping that the warning will be enough to put most people off from sharing them in the first place. 

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For what it's worth, spoiler-centric content can still be shared, but Atlus asks that uploaders include clear spoiler warnings on top of keeping the spoilers themselves out of thumbnails and titles. Before this, I'd already seen a few examples of uncensored late-game cutscenes floating around on YouTube, so hopefully for the sake of everyone who hasn't finished the game yet, this could help with that. After all, Metaphor: ReFantazio could take you anywhere between 80 and 100 hours to beat, so most players aren't going to have rolled credits within the first week. Regardless, it's definitely worth being careful when looking things up online so you can fully appreciate all of the JRPG's surprises.

Be sure to check out our Metaphor: ReFantazio review to find out why it's one of 2024's best JRPGs.

Catherine Lewis
Catherine Lewis
Deputy News Editor

I'm GamesRadar+'s Deputy News Editor, working alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.