Games: International Censor Cuts

See article from steamcommunity.com MadMind Studio first announced:

It is with a great pleasure that we want to inform you we have found a way to publish the unrated version of Agony! Agony Unrated will be a separate title produced and published by Madmind Studio and without the involvement of any publishers. It features additional content and changes suggested by you -- our community

See article from steamcommunity.com . MadMind Studio later announced:

We regret to inform you that our company is currently struggling with financial problems. Due to technical and legal reasons, Madmind must cancel the development of Agony Unrated.

See article from kickstarter.com . April 2018

The publishers of the Kickstarter funded video game Agony have been explaining that release delays are down to censorship problems at the ESRB. The game features nudity which does not sit well with the M (17yo+) rating needed to avoid the commercial ban on adults only games in the US. PlayWay explains:

In order to be able to publish the game, we had to make some compromises. Otherwise, we would have had to to delete the whole project and never release it. With that in mind, we have spent a lot of time to make sure that censorship will not affect the perception of the game. That is why for many months we have been conducting interviews with age-rating companies in order not to cut out entire scenes from the game but at the same time modify it enough (e.g. just slightly changing the camera's frame) to get an M (Mature) rating instead of AO (Adult-Only) rating. AO rating means that the game could not be released on PS4 and Xbox One, and we would not keep the promise made on the Kickstarter.

We also want to confirm that we are preparing a special, optional patch for PC that will remove the aforementioned censorship. We would love to do something similar for consoles but from a technical and legal point of view it is simply not possible.

Many of you ask us what exactly we had to censor, fearing that the game you have been supporting for years will not be the same experience you hoped for. We do not want to list exactly what's been censored due to possible spoilers, but it is important for you to understand that none of the elements you have seen in Agony's promotional materials (gameplay, trailers, screenshots, GIFs) have been censored. Do not be afraid, the full version of Agony is much heavier than what you've seen so far anyway.

See article from game-debate.com , May 2018

Madmind have now cancelled the patch citing legal issues. The company have said not quite so much material has had to be cut as first thought. The company said:

The censorship now affects only several seconds from two endings (out of seven) and some scenes that may be unlocked only after the end of the game.

Madmind have said that they will at least explain the cuts in a documentary video that will show the material that had to be cut for an M rating in the US.

Update: Agony's censored scenes published in a video

1st June 2018. See article from oneangrygamer.net , See video of deleted scenes from vimeo.com

Madmind Studio kept their word and released a video showcasing the original Adults Only content they had to cut in order to secure a Mature rating for the game Agony.

The NSFW video clocks in at 4:48 minutes. It features the content that Madmind had to trim in order to secure the Mature rating, this includes scenes of genital penetration, a couple of seconds of butt physics, various forms of infanticide, as well as a sequence involving demon sex and a succubus giving birth to a demon baby through a mutilated vagina.

The age of the characters is specified in a a profile. The characters have been nominally aged in the profile text by 3 years, but there is no change in terms of graphics.

See article from bbc.com

A photograph of assassinated Russian diplomat Andrei Karlov has been removed from the video game Batman: The Enemy Within , made by Telltale.

Telltale said it regretted the inclusion of the image of Karlov, who was shot dead at an art exhibition in Ankara in December 2016.

Telltale apologised in a statement and said the game had been updated to remove the picture across all platforms. The company said:

We regret this incident occurred, and we are taking appropriate action internally to ensure that we continue to maintain our high standards in production and quality assurance.

See article from slashgear.com :

Following a newspaper campaign and due to the supposed discrediting of China's national image in the futuristic plot line of the game, Battlefield 4 has been banned from sale as of this week. The Chinese Ministry of Culture said the game is to be removed from physical shelves as well as all China-based online sales channels.

Those that've already downloaded the game in China will be unable to access any online content and are encouraged to delete the game from their consoles and PCs. The Chinese Ministry of Culture suggests that Battlefield 4:

Is an illegal game, with content that endangers national security, and is all about a cultural invasion.

Battlefield 4 relevant available downloads, patches, news, and other requirements [shall be] deleted within 24 hours.

Apparently the bit in the game where American soldiers must march into China to help in a state of social instability is not entirely welcome as a possible futuristic outcome in the country at the moment.

Not cut by the BBFC but the UK release has been irritatingly censored. Every time a character swears it is irritatingly bleeped out totally spoiling the atmosphere of the game.

Apparently the distributors, GT Interactive asked the designers, Monolith USA, to remove or bleep out the harsh language. They chose to bleep it out.

Europe: Uncut and unnoticed

All the naked breasts were covered up.

BMX XXX was initially BANNED in Australia but was later available in a sanitised version

Costumes have been censored for US and European release to make them less sexy, seemingly to ensure a lower age rating.

It has just been banned by the Australian Censor Board for reasons which are not yet apparent. The censors have provided just an uninformative stock statement on the website noting the game as 'Refused Classification'.

The description of the game does not really make the game sound very bannable:

You play Harry, an exterminator who gets tasked with slaughtering bugs in a futuristic research facility, in order to buy the surviving scientists time until the total decontamination process is complete. It's a simple game where you face wave after wave of enemies, picking up new weapons and power-ups in order to enhance your slaying skills.

From an article from refused-classification.com. Awfully Nice Studios explained a little more about the ban:

We have been in the age rating process for our upcoming console release in Australia. Seem like this triggered the ban from Steam as well. The reasoning behind is, is sad but at the same point also funny. We have a powerup called Speed powerup where Harry injects himself a syringe. Looks like the combination of the injection with the word Speed someone could assume that it's a drug. We are shocked but are trying to get in touch with Australia to see if we can fix this.

Modern Warfare 2's Favela map was temporarily removed after users discovered Islamic text on a bathroom painting.

The presence of such text within a bathroom environment is apparently offensive to Muslims, prompting Activision to take action.

Apologising for the error, a spokesperson for the Modern Warfare 2 publisher told Kotaku that the map would be taken offline while the team issues an update to remove the texture:

We apologise to anyone who found this image offensive. Please be assured we were unaware of this issue and that there was no intent to offend.

Activision and our development studios are respectful of diverse cultures and religious beliefs, and sensitive to concerns raised by its loyal game players.

The scene later re-appeared with the picture frames blacked out

UK: PEGI 18 rated.
US : ESRB Mature M rated

An American video game that allows players to bomb Tiananmen Square has become the focal point of the latest Chinese censorship crack down.

Although Call of Duty Black Ops II was first released in 2012, officials in the eastern province of Jiangxi singled it out in a recent crackdown that ordered internet cafes to stop their customers playing banned games. A short sequence in the game's alternative reality, in which a character recalls a fictional Second World War bombing raid in the heart of the Chinese capital, appears to have particularly angered the censors.

UK: PEGI 18 rated.
US : ESRB Mature M rated

On the first submission to the Australian Censorship Board the game was passed R18 uncut for high impact violence and threat of sexual violence.

The distributors didn't want the reference to sexual violence so made cuts to the game and resubmitted it. The game was then duly passed R18+ this time for high impact violence.

The BBFC took the view that a competition in which the player is rewarded for the hit-and-run killing of passive, indeed docile, human-like figures was morally reprehensible and likely to encourage callousness towards the suffering of others, The action replay facility in which the game stops while the camera moves slowly round the bloody victimes only underlines the cynicism. The game was therefore refused a certificate but the decision was overturned on appeal and the BBFC had to award it an 18 certificate.

The 18 certificate version of the game was toned down by substituting green blooded aliens for the humans but a software patch or 'Splat Pack' is now available via the internet to restore the the red blooded humans.

See article from windowscentral.com :

Many months ago, windowscentral.com reported that the American ESRB might give Conan Exiles an AO for Adults Only rating which could prevent it from coming to consoles. To avoid this, Funcom had to censor some adult content like exposed penises and testicles for release in countries using ESRB ratings.

A Funcom spokesperson clarified the situation. On consoles, full nudity is only available in PEGI (Albania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and more) and USK (Germany) territories. You can activate it by downloading the Nudity add-on which come with the game purchase.

Unfortunately, only partial nudity is available in ESRB (Bahamas, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, United States, and more) countries.

NIS America explained the changes made prior to submission to the US Entertainment Software Ratings Board,.

1. Some artwork, especially during the motivation scenes, were altered over their explicit nature. It seems NIS America worried the ESRB would take issue with women tied up against the their will.
2. Swapping the term punishment for motivation. In the Japanese version of the game, the motivation scenes are actually punishment.
3. There won't be any English voice overs. All of the text will be displayed in English, but the voice tracks are staying Japanese.
4. All dialogue has been removed from the motivation scenes.
5. The stated ages of some the girls have been changed

Australia

Computer games censors from USK (Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle) have banned the game. The USK is self regulating trade group rather than an official state censor.

Australia: Unavailable

It is reported that the game wont be distributed in Australia but there is no indication that this is due to the official state censors, Australian Classification Board.

• 2015 PlayStation Vita at UK Amazon

US: ESRB M (mature 17+) rated

The OFLC explained their ban:

Firstly, the Classification Office called the game in due to concerns that the sexual content found within the game focuses on young persons and involves elements of sexual violence. However the Motivation sequences themselves do not encourage the player to focus on the girls as young persons, and instead concentrates on presenting their embarrassment, powerlessness and humiliation in a sexualised manner. The dialogue clearly establishes that the girls are either unwilling to participate, or naive about the player character's intentions. Then, once the Motivation is finished, the girls' reaction is positive. The lack of consent presented here - and the idea that Even if you have to force her 203 she'll end up enjoying it - is a narrative that justifies rape and is presented solely for titillation.

This game requires players to engage with the female characters in sexualised situations where consent is not only absent, but where the protestations of the female characters are part of the attraction. There is a strong likelihood of injury to the public good, including to adults from the trivialisation and normalisation of such behaviour, so the game is banned.

Australia

Australia: The re-mastered game was originally passed R18+ uncut in 2021 but the distributors preferred a cut MA15+ rated release.

The cuts were to remove scenes depicting drug use

The game was sold with an adults only warning on the cover and also the logo of the famous Swedish Erotica company, the US producers of hardcore porn shorts.

An example of the controversial imagery is found on Wikipedia.

After the controversy the game was heavily cut and reappeared as Custer's Retreat

Australia

Australia: Uncut and MA15+ rated for online release

Developers Bohemia Interactive have responded to the Australian cenors ban of the game saying that the game will be cut for Australia and then the same cut version will then be distributed worldwide.

Presumably the cuts are to remove the references to cannabis by renaming as something less problematic for censors.

Australia: Passed MA15+ after cuts for retail release with the consumer advice that noticeably doesn't mention drugs: Strong themes and violence, online interactivity

See article from kotaku.com.au

The 'Classification Board' first granted an RC rating to DayZ on June 4, following an application from local distributors Five Star Games to have the game sold in brick-and-mortar stores across the country. According to the censorship report, the game was banned over illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards.

Through general gameplay, the player is able to collect and use a variety of equipment, supplies and weaponry, the report says. One of the options to restore the player's health is a marijuana joint, labelled 'cannabis', which is denoted by a cannabis bud in the player's inventory.

Kotaku Australia also reveals that the Classification Board is also working to have the game pulled from sale digitally in Australia.

Both the Gold Fan and Softening Gel have been cut out of the PS4 release. The golf fan allows players to blow the skirts of characters, with the objective being to turn them inside out so you can get a glimpse of their underwear. Meanwhile, the gel softens the recipient's breasts, making them more springy .

The game has caused a little outrage for a rather complex allusion to an alt-right fictional flag itself alluding to Nazi symbology whilst not actually containing well known Nazi symbols.

The reference comes on a pattern on an optional gantlet available for characters. The pattern on the sleeve resembles part of a fictional Kekistan flag.

Kekistan is a fictional nation invented in 4chan's political board. It rose to prominence after being promoted by a handful of anti-feminism YouTubers.

The Kekistan flag is based on a Nazi battle flag, and was created to allow far rights groups to identify and acknowledge one another using a symbol of Nazism that isn't identified as such by ordinary people. The flag was reported sighted at recent troubles in Charlottesville.

Bungie CEO Pete Parsons apologised:

Our deepest apologies. This does NOT represent our values, and we are working quickly to correct this. We renounce hate in all forms.

The original scene sees demon antagonist Mundus discussing his evil plans with fellow demon and mistress Lilith.

Mundus : I will control the world through debt. I have absolute power.

Lilith: The world is at last your bitch , as am I. Nothing left but to grab it by the hair, bend it over and -

Mundus grunts

Lilith: What's the matter? Wait - what's the matter?

The latter part of the dialogue in bold is cut from the definitive version.

Chief creative director Tameem Antoniades unconvincingly claimed that this wasn't a PC clean up. He said:

We did make an edit to the opening cut-scene. It wasn't a case of censorship as there are far more suggestive scenes in the game. We felt that scene in particular drags on a little bit for the opening sequence and frankly, we didn't like the line.

The edit does not affect the game play.

banned
Australia

The distributors appealed against the ban and won their case. The Classification Review Board explained:

In the Review Board's opinion, while drug use linked to incentives and rewards cannot be accommodated at R 18+, this game does provide disincentives related to drug-taking behaviour, to the point where regular drug use leads to negative consequences for the player's progression in the game. It was, specifically, the disincentives for drug use that influenced the Review Board in making their decision.

Australia: Banned in 2020

The Australian Censorship Board banned the game presumably because the core gameplay mechanics prominently include drugs and alcohol and which is a bit of a no-no for the country's censors.

Western localization censored four images; three of which were slightly altered because they depicted female characters of indeterminate age.

See article from siliconera.com :

Bethesida Softworks have delayed Shinji Mikami's upcoming survival-horror game, The Evil Within . ZeniMax Asia general manger Tetsu Takahashi explained how the game will now be cut for a CERO D (17) rating in japan:

If we were to make it the same way as the foreign version, it'd be rated CERO Z [18 and up] and we felt that it'd be best to release it the way the creators make it. However, that would limit the sales and advertising, so we'd lose the opportunity to reach out to as many customers possible.

However there will be a downloadable upgrade to an uncut CERO Z (18) version. Takahashi said:

The Evil Within will have two types of CERO D and CERO Z, with both of them having passed the CERO inspections, but the retail version will only be done using the CERO D versioni. Those who preorder the game can also get the CERO Z version's representation through the Gore Mode DLC.

See pictorial cuts details from kotaku.com

Germany: Cut after being banned

Germany: Banned in 2009. Unbanned in 2016

Censors at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) took offence at a game called, Fight of Gods, and took immediate action by denying citizens access to the Steam store.

Apparently Valve, the company behind the Steam website were given the chance to block the offending game from Malaysia gamers but did not respond quickly enough for the authorities. Malaysians who try to access the store get the message in English and Malay:

This website is not available in Malaysia as it violate(s) the National law(s).

Fight of Gods pits mythological deities, Jesus included, against one another. Promotional material for Fight of Gods reads:

Your prayers have been answered! For the first time ever, gods, holy spirits and mythological characters from around the globe and throughout history will clash in an explosive 2D fighter where the entire world is at stake!

Who will prevail in the ultimate battle of gods? Will Jesus, fresh from ripping himself off the sacrificial cross, smite all his foes with the power of his Punishment Fist?

Can Buddha slap his opponents into submission?

Harness the power of fire, lightning, water, plagues and more as you pit gods and prophets such as Odin, Zeus, Amaterasu, Anubis, Moses and Athena against one another in one of the most unique and outlandish fighters ever created.

Iraq

20 games have been assessed by China's Online Gaming Ethics Review Committee. Nine of these 20 games have been banned including the most popular battle royale games -- Fortnite and PUBG. The cause given for banning Fortnite is its Blood and gore, vulgar content.

Iraq: Banned in April 2019

Iraq's parliament has voted to ban the popular battle royale games Fortnite and Playerunknown's Battlegrounds because of their supposed detrimental influence on the population.

A Reuters report says the ban was put into place due to the negative effects caused by some electronic games on the health, culture, and security of Iraqi society, including societal and moral threats to children and youth.

PEGI

US: ESRB M (Mature)

Europe : PEGI 16

New
Zealand

The Nintendo Switch version was passed with a 'no youth' rating.

Germany: Banned in February 2018

Gal Gun 2 was submitted to the USK with the result that the release was banned. An appeal against this decision was also dismissed. Thus, the game joins the slow-filling list of anime games that are not available in Germany.

However the game was not indexed by BPjM who did not concur with the sexualisation claims of the USK. This at least allows for a future resubmission to the USK.

New Zealand: Banned in January 2017

Banned by the film censor of the OFLC. Why was it banned? See article from classificationoffice.govt.nz :

The game tends to promote and support the sexual exploitation of children and young persons, and the use of coercion in relation to sexual conduct. It depicts young female high-school students in a way that emphasises their sexual availability. For example, doki-doki mode involves the player touching and rubbing the girls to bring them to a state of euphoria , essentially a sort of orgasm. The game also continuously frames high school students as sexually compliant objects to be fetishized and touched regardless of their consent.

The game's lack of difficulty further supports the idea that the intention of this game is for the titillation and arousal of the player, rather than gameplay mastery. It is therefore likely not only to attract people with a prurient interest in young persons, but also to reinforce the belief that a sexual interest in young persons is acceptable, which contributes to their sexual exploitation in wider society.

In the course of God of War: Ascension, Kratos has to fight a female boss. When she is struck down, the gamer gets to see a cutscene where he receives the trophy labelled Bros Before Hos.

Sony reacted promptly to a bit of a to do about it and released a Day 1 patch that renames the trophy as Bros Before Foes.

Beyond the politically correct renaming of a trophy, the European release was cut for violence. From article from movie-censorship.com :

• After a fight against Castor and Pollux, the player needs to go the mutilated Pollux and kill him by crushing his skull. All the gory details are reframed off screen in the European version, but the sounds are still heard.
• A blood splatter has been removed European version when it is amputated by an elevator.

Uncut

The game was indexed in Germany at the time of the originally release which makes the title unviable to commercially distribute. The title was removed from the index in 2021.

The index of Media Harmful to Young Persons is maintained by the Federal Center for Child and Youth Media Protection.

Australia

Australia: Uncut and MA15+ rated for 2009 release.

The 2008 Australian version included reduced gore effects: When NPCs were killed, no blood would pool under their bodies, and blood effects on the bodies themselves (i.e. bleeding through their clothes if wounded) were removed. Bloody tire tracks remained in both versions, however. The other major change could be seen when players hired sex workers. In other versions of GTA 4 , players could choose the particular sex act they wanted to purchase, then adjust the camera to watch the animation from outside protagonist Nico's car. In the Australian version, there were no sex act options, and the camera remained locked to the rear of the car, which would simply bounce up and down.

The player has to confront a trio of demonic children, digitally modelled on a motion-capture sequence of real children pretending to bite and tear chunks of flesh from the inner thigh of their supposed mother.The positioning of the shot with the heads of children placed between the upraised legs of their mother had a sexualised quality which seemed obscene in the meaning of the Obscene Publications Act, and this shot was removed.

US: AO (Adults Only)

Banned by outlets GOG.com and Twitch

Germany: Banned in Germany and implemented by geo-blocking on Steam

Bizarrely banned in 2019 seemingly in the run up to a re-release of the Hotline Mimi Collection on eSwitch.

The game didn't seem to cause any trouble anywhere but Australia.

The Hotline Miami Collection was reissued in 2020 on Nintendo Switch and XBox

The censors were offended at an implied rape featured in the game. The censors wrote in a report:

In the sequence of game play footage titled Midnight Animal, the protagonist character bursts into what appears to be a movie set and explicitly kills 4 people, who collapse to the floor in a pool of copious blood, often accompanied by blood splatter. After stomping on the head of a fifth male character, he strikes a female character wearing red underwear. She is knocked to the floor and is viewed lying face down in a pool of copious blood. The male character is viewed with his pants halfway down, partially exposing his buttocks. He is viewed pinning the female down by the arms and lying on top of her thrusting, implicitly raping her (either rear entry or anally) while her legs are viewed kicking as she struggles beneath him. This visual depiction of implied sexual violence is emphasised by it being mid-screen, with a red backdrop pulsating and the remainder of the screen being surrounded by black.

ESRB cuts included:

• no green Hydra Blood
• Pirates can not be set on fire
• Axel's death scene was edited

Kingdom Hearts 3 is an upcoming video game that features Winnie the Pooh.

Now China's president Xi Jinping has taken offence at his gait and pot belly being likened to Pooh bear so Chinese censors have to spend hours ensuring that images of the bear are airbrushed out of Chinese life.

A Chinese website sharing images of the upcoming game revealed the game's interesting form of censorship. The iconic Winnie the Pooh is censored out with a gigantic white light.

The

US: ESRB Teen T rated

Before and censored

The Korean version of the League of Legends has been censored after a software update on the Korean server for the game.

Artwork for the character Evelynn has been changed to cover up her bare midriff and also to reduce her cleavage (in visibility rather than size).

The game is 12 rated in South Korea, and has a Teen T rating from the ESRB in the US.

The South Korean Game Rating & Administration Committee has a recent history of censorship of games in regards to artwork, especially in mobile games.

The change to Evelynn's artwork has sparked another round of debate about game ratings in Korea and what should be deemed appropriate or not.

The cuts were:

• to introduce a red blurring effect over gory executions
• to delete a scoring system that essentially rewarded players for killing in the most gruesome way possible.

cut for M rating

The Video Appeals Committee announced that the result of their reconsideration of the Manhunt 2 appeal remains that the appeal against the rejection of the work by the BBFC is upheld.

The Board's decision to refuse a certificate to Manhunt 2 was successfully challenged on appeal to the Video Appeals Committee. The Board challenged the VAC's decision by way of Judicial Review before the High Court, which quashed the decision on grounds of errors of law. The VAC has now reconsidered the appeal in the light of the High Court's directions on the law but has decided, again by a majority of four to three, to allow the appeal on the basis that Manhunt 2 should be given an '18' certificate.

In the light of legal advice the Board does not believe the VAC's judgement provides a realistic basis for a further challenge to its decision and has accordingly issued an '18' certificate.

David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said: As I have said previously, we never take rejection decisions lightly, and they always involve a complex balance of considerations. We twice rejected Manhunt 2, and then pursued a judicial review challenge, because we considered, after exceptionally thorough examination, that it posed a real potential harm risk. However, the Video Appeals Committee has again exercised its independent scrutiny. It is now clear, in the light of this decision, and our legal advice, that we have no alternative but to issue an '18' certificate to the game.

The BBFC also provided a statement about the 18 certificate:

MANHUNT 2 is a violent action game based on a psychological-horror theme. The player takes on the role of Daniel Lamb, a seemingly disturbed patient in a mental facility, who escapes from the institution in an effort to discover who he really is. As he progresses through various environments collecting clues and information about his identity, he is confronted by numerous thugs employed by "The Project"; a secretive experimental organisation, whom he must either evade or kill in order to ensure his own survival.

MANHUNT 2 has been classified '18' for very strong bloody and sadistic violence, which takes the form of stealth executions. In order to successfully despatch a target, the player-character must creep up behind the victim quietly and kill before he is discovered. The killings are achieved through a number of common items such as syringes, glass shards, pens, crowbars, spades, power-saws, clubs, baseball bats, axes, pliers and, later on in the game, firearms. Each killing is graphically portrayed as a brief video scene where weapons are seen to impact on various parts of the victim's body coupled to realistic sound effects and blood spurts. The cumulative effect of these killings creates a very strong impression of almost continuous violence and horror which is too strong to be contained at any category below '18'. The game is entirely unsuitable for anyone below this age.

cut for M rating

The BBFC issued the following press release:

The BBFC has rejected a revised version of the video game Manhunt 2. This follows the rejection of the original version of the game in June. The distributor had set in motion an appeal to the Video Appeals Committee against that decision, and this was suspended while the revised version was considered for classification.

David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said:
We recognise that the distributor has made changes to the game, but we do not consider that these go far enough to address our concerns about the original version. The impact of the revisions on the bleakness and callousness of tone, or the essential nature of the gameplay, is clearly insufficient. There has been a reduction in the visual detail in some of the 'execution kills', but in others they retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature.

We did make suggestions for further changes to the game, but the distributor has chosen not to make them, and as a result we have rejected the game on both platforms. The decision on whether or not an appeal goes ahead lies with the distributor.

Ireland

The BBFC has rejected the video game Manhunt 2 . This means that it cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK. The game was submitted in both a PS2 and a Nintendo Wii version. The decision was taken by the Director and the Presidential Team of Sir Quentin Thomas, Lord Taylor of Warwick and Janet Lewis-Jones.

David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said: Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly. Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board's published Guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible. Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.

Although the difference should not be exaggerated the fact of the game's unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying and the sheer lack of alternative pleasures on offer to the gamer, together with the different overall narrative context, contribute towards differentiating this submission from the original Manhunt game. That work was classified '18' in 2003, before the BBFC's recent games research had been undertaken, but was already at the very top end of what the Board judged to be acceptable at that category.

Against this background, the Board's carefully considered view is that to issue a certificate to Manhunt 2 , on either platform, would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks, to both adults and minors, within the terms of the Video Recordings Act, and accordingly that its availability, even if statutorily confined to adults, would be unacceptable to the public.

Ireland: The original AO uncut version was also banned in Ireland

See article from kotaku.com.au

Kotaku Australia revealedl that the game was specifically banned over instances of hypersexualised imagery, including scenes that the Board described as implied sexual violence and exploitative or offensive depictions of minors.

The game has been banned by the Australian Censorship Board for reasons unknown. Neither the censors nor the developers have specified any reasons for the ban.

The censor's database notes that the film was rated as Refused Classification (banned) in July 2020. The database also notes that the game was submitted under the automated random rating generator process known as IARC. This has a long history of ludicrous ratings that eventually get overturned by human censors.

The game's developers, Bloober Team has made a name for themselves thanks to the line of horror video game titles but it looks like The Medium will be their largest project launch to date. It is claimed that due to computing requirements, it will only run on the latest consoles, notably Xbox Series X.

It is reported that Bloober Team are making cuts to secure a presumably R18+ rating.

The Australian Classification Board banned the game citing a game feature allowing gamers to caress the breasts of the characters. The Australian censors decided that one of the characters depicts a child and so the game was banned. The censors explained:

The game features a variety of female characters dressed in provocative clothing with their cleavage emphasised by their clothing revealing the sides or underside of their breasts. The five main characters in the game are Machina Mages , females who pair with robot-like guardians in order to do battle. Four of the five, Estra, Flare, Maki and Setia, although of indeterminate age, are all adult-like, with voluptuous bosoms and large cleavage that are flaunted with a variety of skimpy outfits.

The fifth main character, Connie, is depicted as child-like in comparison. She is flat-chested, under-developed physically (such as the hips), is significantly shorter than the other characters and wears her hair in pigtails. She also has a child-like voice, wears colourful child-like clothing and appears naive in her outlook on life. She is also referred to as a girl by the other main characters. In the Board's opinion, the character of Connie depicts a person who is, or appears to be, a child under 18.

The game features use of the Playstation Vita's touchscreen feature, that allows the player to touch or run their finger across the touchscreen in order to make any female character's breasts move in response. The chest area of Connie is viewed moving slightly when this occurs, which is significantly different from the greater movement viewed when one of the four adult-like female characters is touched.

See article from kotaku.com :

Hideo Kojima, in an interview with Weekly Famitsu , mentioned that thanks to the Computer Entertainment Ratings Organization (CERO) , the Japanese video game ratings board, part of the Japanese version has been censored.

That part got flagged by CERO so the production was changed that way, but in the North American version [of Ground Zeroes ] you can see everything, Kojima said when his interviewer expressed amazement of how far the content of Ground Zeroes went.

Reports mention that the missing details are from a waterboarding torture scene. other reports mention a candidate rape scene.

A cut version has been rated as M for Mature by the ESRB for spring 2014 release in the US.

It is a digital card battle game in which the player summons various monster girls onto the game's battlefields. Those girls then fight the player's opponents. The girls power-up and become stronger by stripping through the use of in-game mechanics called First Crush Rub and Extreme Love .

This extreme rub system requires the player to stroke both sides of the Vita console on its side in a pumping motion, in order to seal cards. Rubbing, poking and touching the screen results in the character's clothes being removed, from fully clothed to a skimpy bathing suit. Touching the monster girls also causes their breasts and thighs to jiggle in response.

The artwork will be censored for US and European releases as revealed in a statement emailed from the game publisher:

We kept the same number of cards in the game as the original Japanese version, but replaced some of the higher level Monster Girl images with the less exposed lower level versions of the corresponding Monster Girls due to some intense sexual imagery.

The number of censored cards is about 40 out of the approximately 350 card images available in the game. This means that over 300 cards are left untouched from the original images. That said, each card that has had its image removed will still have the same number of levels for the player to increase, but the higher level card images will be the same as the lower level, even though they have leveled up and have become more powerful.

This was a very difficult decision since we work very hard to satisfy our fans and want to bring the same content being offered in Japan. However, Western society is not as lenient as that of Japan when sexual images are involved-especially images of humanoids that appear to be younger than a socially acceptable age. The borderline of what is acceptable will always be extremely gray and vary from person to person, but as a responsible company working in the U.S., we had to make the difficult decision that we did. We sincerely apologize for those who do not agree with any level of censorship, but we greatly appreciate your understanding with the decision we have made.

Endured several alterations for its international version. NIS America stated that they censored the game for these markets because they feared the ESRB's AO rating and that they also wanted to distance themselves from sexual acts that featuring childlike characters.

The official message board reveals that a mini game featuring characters bathing. Players can soap and rub female group members and caress them, as well. This results in characters blushing and/or moaning). It should be noted that there's no nudity involved, even though the players can certainly create the illusion by choosing a skin-toned color of the bathing suits. The issues is that the characters are involved are rather young looking.

US: Banned by Sony from playing on PS4 or Vita.

Germany

New
Zealand

Ireland

See article from videostandards.org.uk

The VSC Rating Board has ruled that the video game, Omega Labyrinth Z, will not be issued a UK Certificate of Classification.

This refusal is relevant to physical product only (disc, cartridge, etc.) Under the terms of the Video Recordings Act (1984), the VSC Rating Board is required to consider the likelihood of any game causing harm to the user and, subsequently, to wider society by the way in which the game deals with and portrays images of criminal, violent or horrific behaviour, illegal drugs and human sexual activity. The grounds for this decision are as follows: - The likely harm being caused to a viewer or potential viewer, e.g. children or young people.

The game is explicit in its setting within a school environment and the majority of the characters are young girls - one child is referred to as being a first year student and is seen holding a teddy bear. The game clearly promotes the sexualisation of children via the sexual interaction between the game player and the female characters. The style of the game is such that it will attract an audience below the age of 18.

There is a serious danger that impressionable people, i.e. children and young people viewing the game would conclude that the sexual activity represented normal sexual behaviour. There is a constant theme of sexual innuendo and activity throughout the game that suggests behaviour likely to normalise sexual activity towards children. As a means of reward gained by successfully navigating the game, the player has the means to sexually stimulate the female characters by using either a hand held remote device or touch screen software.

The VSC Rating Board believes this content in a game, which would have strong appeal to non-adult players, is an issue which would be unacceptable to the majority of UK consumers and, more importantly, has the potential to be significantly harmful in terms of the social and moral development of younger people in particular.

Germany:

Banned by German game censors

Australia : Banned in February 2018

The Australia censor banned the game with an explanation concluding:

In the Board's opinion, the ability to interact with the character Urara Rurikawa in the manner described constituted a simulation of sexual stimulation of a child.

Ireland:
NewZealand:

The games distributors stated that the game will not be available in New Zealand or Ireland.

The uncut version is titled Omega Labyrinth Life for Switch. In a rare departure from the norm, the game has an English language option. The uncut version is also available on Steam.

A cut version is titled Labyrinth Life for PlayStation 4. In a rare departure from the norm, the game has an English language option.

See uncut version of cutscene from YouTube

Mote that the 2019 reworked edition contains both the cut and uncut versions of the scene. Selecting English results in the cut version but selecting Japanese reveals the full uncut version.

See cut version of cutscene from YouTube

EU: The Australian cut version looks set to be PEGI 18 rated

US: The Australian cut version looks set to be ESRB M rated (17)

Soon after being banned by the Australian games censor, the game was shorn of its implied sexual violence, and was then resubmitted. The game was passed R18+ and the developers stated that the cut version will now be distributed worldwide.

The game producers have now claimed that the version cut to obtain an Australian R18+ was the version that the intended to release all along and that it should not be therefore be referred to as a cut version when it is distributed worldwide. Red Barrels said:

The original submission of Outlast 2 sent to the Australian Classification Branch contained the final game code and a video file for reference taken from an Alpha version of the game. This video file should not have been sent along with the game code, as its content was not representative of the final game.

In the second submission, the same game code was submitted with a video file reflecting the final game content. The game was then approved for release with an R18+ rating. There will be only one version of Outlast 2 available worldwide.

See article from kotaku.com.au

Outlast 2 has been banned in Australia, predominately for the depiction of implied sexual violence.

Australia's Censorship Board provided a detailed explanation of the reasons to Kotaku. The censors identified multiple scenes where sexual violence is implied in hallucinatory scenes involving the main character, Blake.

One particular scene shows a female creature thrusting against the main character while his wife is tied up in chains. The censors explained:

The Board's report also notes that the game could be passed R18+ should the offending scene be cut.

See article from kotaku.com.au
See censorship details from classification.gov.au
See game from desura.com

The game was originally release in 2014 but reappeared in February 2015 as a Deluxe Atonement Edition . But this has now been banned by Australian censors.

The Classification Board listing is dated 5th January 2016 and lists the film as banned or 'Refused Classification' The Australian censor does not give reasons for the ban beyond vague words about it not fitting within the censorship rules.

Current distributors Digerati told kotaku they would look at removing the 'offending item' to comply with the Classification Board's requirements:

The reason they gave was 'illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives and rewards' -- the prescribed drug in game is Adderall and picking up the item gives you a 15% speed increase.

I have asked if we can resub [Paranautical Activity] without the item, waiting for a reply.

• Ending Murder. Reduce violence in scene featuring scantily-clad blonde woman (Therese) in rest-room, as follows: After close-up of woman's chain-bound hands, remove all shots of suspended feet bathed in blood and shaking, electrocution detail, and woman's head convulsing from electric shock, resuming on ball-gag dropping into pool of blood.
• Bob's Murder. In crime scene interior featuring man in spectacles (Curtis) remove close-ups of hand being impales, of victim's mouth spewing blood as he is struck, of victim's mouth being stapled with staple-gun and of victim's mouth dripping blood as chest is slashed, resuming on victim inside body bag.

India

Iraq

Not quite banned but the authorities did not allow the games monitisation. Instead Tencent replaced it by a bloodless but similar game, Heping Jingying or Elite Force for Peace, which features heroic Chinese forces kicking ass, which the authorities seem to have approved of.

20 games have been assessed by China's Online Gaming Ethics Review Committee. Nine of these 20 games have been banned including the most popular battle royale games -- Fortnite and PUBG. The cause given for banning PUBG is blood and gore.

Pakistan: High Court asks for a decision

The Lahore High Court has directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on May 18 to decide over banning popular online game -- Player Unknown Battlegrounds (PUBG) -- in Pakistan within six weeks.

India: Banned

Multiple cities banned PUBG ever since the national child rights commission recommended barring the game for its violent nature.

In 2020, at a time of border tensions with China, the government banned PUBG Mobile over concerns that the app was spying on users and transmitting sensitive user data back to China.

In January 2021 it was announced that the Indian ban on PUBG would be permanent.

Iraq: Banned in April 2019

Iraq's parliament has voted to ban the popular battle royale games Fortnite and Playerunknown's Battlegrounds because of their supposed detrimental influence on the population.

A Reuters report says the ban was put into place due to the negative effects caused by some electronic games on the health, culture, and security of Iraqi society, including societal and moral threats to children and youth.

Iraqi media reported incidents of suicide and divorce related to the games during the last year. Local media reporting on the craze has claimed it has led to nearly 40,000 divorces worldwide and more than 20 cases in Iraq.

Jordan: Banned in July 2019

Jordan's game censors at the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) have banned PUBG. A statement claimed that the action came after a wave of complaints from citizens and authorities alike. However, the TRC said one of its main reasons for implementing the ban was a World Health Organization study that classified PUBG as a violent game leading to addiction and social isolation, further stating that children who play violent games are more violent than their peers.

Nepal: Unbanned in May 2019

The Supreme Court of Nepal has issued an interim order to the government to not ban the popular online game. The court observed that PUBG was basically a game used by the general public for entertainment. Since press freedom and freedom of expression are guaranteed by the constitution, it is necessary to prove that such bans are just, fair and reasonable, and the actions of the authorities concerned are wise and logical, the bench stated in its order. The SC observed that the ban imposed by Kathmandu District Court on April 10 was not reasonable.

Nepal: Banned in April 2019

Nepal Telecommunication Authority directed all ISPs to ban PlayerUnknown's Battleground, commonly known PUBG, following a court order to ban the game. The court claimed that the game was having a negative effect on the behaviour and study of children and youths.

Urban commando shoot-em-up with an endless stream of hostile threats. In America, the games had episodes of what the BBFC called crazed irresponsibility on the part of the gunman but these were cut for the UK. The theme coupled with sounds of people screaming and groaning earned it an 18.

The original release featured an in-game arcade machine that displayed a homophobic, albeit non-playable, game. This arcade game was changed to a fishing game called Bastard Fish in patched releases. The developers said that they felt it had been a step too far.

The game was released uncut with the developers commendably refusing to make cuts to appease several censorial nations.

Australia

Germany

Malaysia

New Zealand censors of the OFLC banned the film citing abhorrent content (Urination, High Impact Violence, Animal Cruelty, Homophobia, Racial, Ethnic Stereotypes).

Australia: Banned in 2005

The Australian censors also noted excessive abhorrent content.

Malaysia: Banned in 2007

Malaysia banned the game outright due to very high impact violence & offensive depictions of cruelty.

Germany: Banned

Sweden: Temporarily banned

In Sweden, the attorney general took the Swedish distributor of the game to court. He was prosecuted with illegal depiction of violence, a crime falling under the Swedish freedom-of-speech act. The court dismissed the case on December 12, 2006 and the game was unbanned.

The game was released uncut.

The game was initially banned by Australia's random rating generator called the International Age Rating Coalition's Global Rating Tool (IARC Tool). The rating was then confirmed by human censors citing interactive drug use related to incentives and rewards.

Skimpy costumes for the Japanese version but head to toe cladding for western versions

In a blog post, Ubisoft explained: A Single, Global Version

We want to explain why these changes are coming to the global version of the game, as opposed to branching and maintaining two parallel builds. We want to streamline our production time to increase efficiency By maintaining a single build, we are able to reduce the duplication of work on the development side. This will allow us to be more agile as a development team, and address issues more quickly. Ubisoft provided examples of their censorship: Icons featuring knives become fists Icons featuring skulls are replaced Skulls in artwork are fleshed out into faces Images of slot machines are removed Blood spatters are removed from a Chinese landscape painting Strip club neon nudity is removed

Ubisoft later changed its mind after significant customer backlash and announced that the cuts would be reversed for the next update:

The next update, referred to as Year Three Season Four, will see the majority of these changes returned to their original look. The Moroccan-themed expansion will also feature three new characters and a new map. It's expected to launch in early December on PlayStation 4, Windows PC, and Xbox One .

But it wasn't long before Ubisoft tried another tack to justify a censored version (without mentioning the Chinese connection).

Ubisoft are now reporting that parents and consumer groups are complaining that the game has too many references to sex, many violent scenes, and allusions to gambling . It adds that parents say these issues are troubling in a game intended for teenagers.

'After listening to criticism', the company decided to make some changes to the game. It will remove some of the sexual references and violent content, and make the loot boxes easier to come by. Ubisoft is hoping the changes will be enough to satisfy the critics and make the customers happy as well. (Especially those in China).

The Japanese version tones down gore. Limbs can still be blown off but, rather than leaving behind highly detailed meshes with exposed flesh, they disappear.

No cuts listed by the BBFC but it is reported that the epic re-telling of the classic haunted house story contained a particularly unpleasant intro showing its Japanese origins. The blend of severed limbs and graphic bloodletting proved too much for the film censors, various cuts were made for its 15 rating

David W pointed out there was originally a scene where a zombie was feasting on a human body and the head rolled into view, half eaten.. For whatever reason this did not seem to make the final release.

The game was released uncut

The Australian censors reported:

The game includes a weapon referred to by the Applicant as an Alien Anal Probe. The Applicant states that this weapon can be shoved into enemy's backsides. The lower half of the weapon resembles a sword hilt and the upper part contains prong-like appendages which circle around what appears to be a large dildo which runs down the centre of the weapon. When using this weapon the player approaches a (clothed) victim from behind and thrusts the weapon between the victim's legs and then lifts them off the ground before pulling a trigger which launches the victim into the air. After the probe has been implicitly inserted into the victim's anus the area around their buttocks becomes pixelated highlighting that the aim of the weapon is to penetrate the victim's anus. The weapon can be used during gameplay on enemy characters or civilians. In the Board's opinion, a weapon designed to penetrate the anus of enemy characters and civilians constitutes a visual depiction of implied sexual violence that is interactive and not justified by context and as such the game should be Refused Classification.

The game contains an optional mission which involves the player obtaining and smoking drugs referred to as alien narcotics. Smoking the alien narcotics equips the player with superpowers which increase their in-game abilities allowing them to progress through the mission more easily.

The ban was challenged by the distributor but the ban was upheld by the appeal board.

Senran Kagura Burst Re:Newal was recently delayed on the PlayStation 4 as Sony demanded that publisher XSEED removes 'intimacy mode' which effectively allows you to fondle its cast of indeterminate aged virtual characters against their will.

See article from pinknews.co.uk

A representative for games developer EA has announced on an online forum that The Sims mobile game The Sims: Freeplay would no longer be available in seven countries: China, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar and Egypt.

A spokesperson said that in light of regional standards the game would no longer be updated.? EA did not confirm the exact nature of these regional standards, prompting many fans to speculate that the ban was caused by the game's explicit LGBT content.

Users who had already downloaded the game would still be able to use it, however, the game will not be updated and may eventually be rendered obsolete. Players will also not be able to make in-game purchases.

The popular EA life simulation video game includes diverse elements such as same-sex weddings and gay adoptions, and male pregnancies. The game let players pick whether the sim had a feminine or masculine frame and allowed players to decide whether their sim stood to use the toilet.

The censors have yet to explain their reasons with just a worthless catch-all statement posted so far on their website.

No cuts listed by the BBFC but chainsticks have been removed anyway.

There is also a scene at the start where Sophitia puts her hands on her breasts to cover her self up from the water god. In the UK version she is wearing a swim suit.

US : Uncut and M rated

February 2014. See article from eurogamer.net :

Ubisoft has censored the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of 18-rated comedy role-playing game South Park: The Stick of Truth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The PC version remains unaffected.

BT.com reported on a note sent to press alongside copies of the game that revealed the changes, which amount to seven scenes of about 20 seconds each:

• A mini-game in which the doctor is performing an abortion on the player.
• A mini-game in which the player is performing an abortion on the character Randy.
• Five anal probing scenes involving someone actively being probed. The scenes play out as normal before and after the active probing sequences.

Each censored scene is replaced by an image background and a description text selected by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, Ubisoft said.

Speculation suggests that the censorship was applied to the entire region to appease the lowest common denominator of game censors, ie those in Germany.

See article from escapistmagazine.com

South Park wouldn't be South Park without a healthy dose of controversy, so it should come as no surprise that the just-released Stick of Truth South Park video game has its fair share. Originally, when it was revealed that the game would be censored in Australia, absolutely no-one was surprised, as Australia censors pretty much everything these days. What was a little more surprising was the news that the same offending scenes would be cut from the European versions of the game.

First up is the anal probe scene , in which the player character is dragged past three other characters who are being actively probed, is then probed himself, and then has to help rescue Randy Marsh without accidentally probing him.

The second sequence, the abortion scene , starts with the doctor performing an abortion on the player character, and ends up with the player performing an abortion on, once again, Randy Marsh (poor Randy).

See article from escapistmagazine.com : De-censorship Mod

South Park fans living in Australia, Europe, Africa and The Middle East were somewhat dismayed to learn that their version of South Park: The Stick of Truth . would be censored . I was able to upload the scenes so affected users could see what they were missing out on, but now, those clever PC modders have done one better, creating a patch for the Steam version of the game that allows everyone to enjoy it fully uncensored. Hooray for anal probes!

You can find the patch on the Steam community forums here , and to install it, you simply need to download this file and extract it into the game's directory. Fans are reporting that the patch works perfectly, allowing them to see the removed anal probe and abortion scenes, as well as the Nazi zombies for those users in Germany.

February 2014. See article from gamespot.com :

The German version will not feature any swastikas, Ubisoft has confirmed:

With regards to the German version, all Nazi symbols have been removed from the game in accordance with German law.

February 2014 See article from gameplanet.com.au : Cut by 5 minutes

Ubisoft said in a statement:

A modified version has now been approved for release, under the guidance of R18+. No full sequences have been removed from the game, only small sections amounting to less than five minutes of game play. These modifications in no way detract from the narrative of the game, meaning the player will still enjoy an authentic South Park experience.

December 2013. See article from movie-censorship.com :

South Park: The Stick of Truth has been cut by the Australian Censorship Board.

The version to be released in Australia is missing an entire interactive sequence in which the player character, among others, is subjected to anal probing by alien technology.

The scene is a homage to the very first episode of the TV series and includes that an alien probe is inserted anally into various characters within an interactive animated sequence and - mainly - with no indication of explicit or implicit consent .

The game was resubmitted in a slightly modified version. The censor's report doesn't exactly how it was changed cut it seemed that the victims of the anal probe are now sleeping or sedated and thus don't respond painfully to the probe. However this version did not allay the censor's concern about the lack of consent, and so was refused again.

In the third and successful submission, the alien probe scene was totally removed and replaced by a simple text that describes the events. It is framed by a picture that shows crying koala bears and the word CENSORED in big red letters placed right next to it.

The censors also criticised an abortion scene with an amateurishly executed abortion using a coat hanger and a vacuum cleaner. However the censors did not push this point and the scene remained unaltered.

See article from en.wikipedia.org

During pre-release beta trials, the game's publisher EA was criticized by gamers and the gaming press for introducing a loot box monetization scheme that gives players substantial gameplay advantages through items purchased in-game with real money.

Although such items could also be purchased with in-game currency, players would on average have to grind for approximately 40 hours to unlock a single player character such as Darth Vader.

Responding to the controversy, developers had adjusted the number of in-game items a player receives through playing the game. However, after the game went into pre-release a number of players and journalists who received the pre-release copy of the game reported various controversial gameplay features, such as rewards being unrelated to the player's performance in the game.

On November 12, 2017, a Reddit user complained that although they spent US$80 to purchase the Deluxe Edition of the game, Darth Vader remained inaccessible for play, and the use of this character required a large amount of in-game credits. Players estimated that it would take 40 hours of gameplay to accumulate enough credits to unlock a single hero. In response to the community's backlash, EA's Community Team defended the controversial changes by saying their intent to make users earn credits to unlock heroes was to give users a sense of pride and accomplishment after unlocking a hero. This led to many Reddit users becoming frustrated at the response, which generated more than 668,000 downvotes, making it the most downvoted comment in the site's history.

In response to the community's outrage, EA lowered the cost of credits to unlock heroes by 75%.

On the day before release, EA disabled micro-transactions entirely, citing players' concerns that they gave buyers unfair advantages. They stated their intent to reintroduce them at a later date after unspecified changes had been made.

And those changes commenced in March 2018.

UK: PEGI 18 rated for:

• 2014 XBox 360 game at UK Amazon

banned

The distributor organised cuts to replace the stimulants alluding to narcotics with vitamin supplements. This seemed to appease the censors and the game was then passed R18+

Australia: Banned by the Censorship Board in June 2013

See article from refused-classification.com The Australian Censorship Board banned the film over it depiction of drug taking:

The game contains the option of self-administering a variety of "medications" throughout gameplay which act to restore a player's health or boost their stamina. These "medications" include both legal and illicit substances such as methadone, morphine, amphetamines, stimulants, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, codeine, aspirin, "trucker pills", painkillers and tussin. Of these, methadone, morphine, and amphetamines are proscribed drugs and the term "stimulant" is commonly used to refer to a class of drugs of which several are proscribed.

Players obtain drugs by scavenging for them in the environment or by manufacturing them in a "Medical Lab". When players find drugs in the environment the name of the drug appears onscreen and the drug is also represented by a visual icon such as a pill bottle or syringe. Within the "Medical Lab" players are prompted to make substances such as "Potent Stims", "Mild Stims" and "Painkillers". The laboratory includes a "research library" and "chemical dictionary".

When administering drugs, the player is briefly depicted moving a pill bottle toward their mouth. The sound of pills rattling in the bottle accompanies the depiction. The name of the drug appears onscreen along with its representative icon. Consumption of the drug instantly increases a player's in-game abilities allowing them to progress through gameplay more easily. The Applicant has stated that a "player can choose not to make any drugs or scavenge for them, but it would be very difficult to complete the game without some form of medication".

In the Board's opinion, the game enables the player's character to self-administer proscribed drugs which aid in gameplay progression. This game therefore contains drug use related to incentives or rewards and should be Refused Classification.

The reported cuts were:

In the previous build for Street Fighter 5, R. Mika would hold her opponents legs in a split during a move, this is not longer the case. Now her opponents legs are much closer together. Maybe coincidently but comparison shots also show some cleavage being lost in reframing.

R. Mika's invaluable butt slap has been replaced with a very different camera angle -- one that shows her upper body, instead of her very robust lower body.

Capcom's Yoshinori Ono in a recent interview to Jogos confirmed cuts to the game. He explained:

Our objective with 'Street Fighter V' is to start over from zero explains Ono. We want the professional players and the casual fans of the series to return, but we also want to reach those who have never even touched a fighting game. So we can't have something in the game that makes people think, 'This is not acceptable'

We didn't make any change because of external influences. Those changes came up internally. We decided to remove that because we want the biggest possible number of people to play, and we don't want to have something in the game that might make someone uncomfortable

Probably we won't be able to remove everything that could offend someone. But our goal is, at least, to reduce that number as much as possible so that they think 'Ok, there is this issue here, but it is within the limits'. We want that everyone can play and enjoy without worrying about anything else Ono said.

The console game Super Real Mahjong PV, originally released on the Sega Saturn and recently released for Switch, has been removed from Nintendo's eShop due to some scenes with insufficient censorship.

According to a notice from the publisher, Mighty Craft, Nintendo temporarily removed Super Real Mahjong PV from the eShop due to scenes with insufficient censorship as the reason. This is something that was pointed out by Japanese entertainment rating organization CERO (Computer Entertainment Rating Organization).

The publisher says it is currently working on checking and revising the entire game, and are getting ready to have it reviewed by Nintendo.

It turns out there are some instances of the censorship rays being too thin and left some images of female breasts exposed.

Sony has blocked the publication of a video game based upon chat up lines and seduction techniques.

Super Seducer was scheduled for release on the PlayStation 4. But feminists have taken issue with the themes of the game.

Sony has confirmed that the game has been banned bit has not explained the reasoning behind its censorship.

A cutscene was editted to achieve a lower age category for a PEGI 16 rating in Europe.

A murder sequence was changed by substituting a killing by magic instead of the original death by stabbing with a sword. See cut comparison video from YouTube

Sex scenes were obviously censored later in the day by using reframing and a restricted field of view to block the sight of Baron's and Jennifer's breasts. The mod restores the full screen view so that you get to see the boobs as intended.

The scenes were also cut from the PC version but can be restored after some serious modding efforts See article from oneangrygamer.net

Tokyo Mirage Sessions suffered a number of bizarre minor changes to desexualize the female characters.

See article from abcnews.go.com

Following a newspaper campaign and due to the supposed discrediting of China's national image in the futuristic plot line of the game, Battlefield 4 has been banned from sale as of this week. The Chinese Ministry of Culture said the game is to be removed from physical shelves as well as all China-based online sales channels.

Those that've already downloaded the game in China will be unable to access any online content and are encouraged to delete the game from their consoles and PCs. The Chinese Ministry of Culture suggests that Battlefield 4:

Is an illegal game, with content that endangers national security, and is all about a cultural invasion.

Battlefield 4 relevant available downloads, patches, news, and other requirements [shall be] deleted within 24 hours.

Apparently the bit in the game where American soldiers must march into China to help in a state of social instability is not entirely welcome as a possible futuristic outcome in the country at the moment.

The YouTube channel Censored Gaming has published its latest video, this one highlighting how the PlayStation 4 horror game, Until Dawn , was amended for its Japanese release.

Josh's death by saw cutscene was crudely censored for Japan by totally blanking out the video.

See video from YouTube

UK: PEGI 16 rated for:

• 2016 Playstation Vita game at UK Amazon

Banned for its sexuality.

Australia: Banned by the Censorship Board in August 2016.

See article from refused-classification.com

The Australian Censorship Board claims that the game promotes elements that offend standards of morality, and also uses sexuality as an incentive and reward. A major factor in the refusal of classification is due to implied sexual violence in the game, especially if they pertain to incentives or rewards..

In the game, the girls are able to turn into weapons by kissing and touching one another. This may be part of the reason for the ban.

US: Uncut and ESRB M rated

pre-cut

See pictorial cuts from movie-censorship.com . A beheading was cut from the opening video.

UK: PEGI 18 rated for:

• 2020 PS4 game at UK Amazon

The game was banned by the Australian Censorship Board in February 2020. The censors did not provide any meaningful reason for the ban, but the censor's usual bugbear is that something considered naughty is used as an incentive in the game mechanism.

UK: PEGI 18 rated for:

• 2018 Playstation Vita game at UK Amazon

banned

The Australian game censor heard an appeal against the ban on 3rd July 2018 and decided to overturn the ban, rating the game R18+ for fantasy violence and interactive drug use.

Australia: Banned by the Censorship Board in May 2018

See article from bloody-disgusting.com

In May 2018, the Australian Censorship Board announced that We Happy Few has been banned in Australia.

The censors noted that the game's depictions of drug use related to incentives and rewards, in this case the beneficial effects of using Joy pills, could not be accommodated within the R 18+ category.

The Soma-like drug Joy is used in the game to detract the citizens of Wellington Wells from the Orwellian reality they live in.

There's no word yet on if Compulsion Games will make cuts to the game to satisfy the Board, but it s often the case.

The game is set for release on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC this summer.

the game was banned in Germany in 1992 for its Nazi symbology. Until now. Wolfenstein 3D has now officially been removed from the German Ban list, more than 25 years after the game was released.

The change of heart is based on a court ruling made in 2018, involving a web-based parody game Bundesfighter 2 Turbo . The game, which is a parody of politicians, featured right-wing leader Alexander Gauland who transformed into a Swastika as one of his special moves. The developers appealed the symbology censorship applied to the game with Germany's attorney general, who ruled that the exemption of art applies to video games. This then overrules games censorship rules previously applying to Nazi symbology in German games releases.

See article from polygon.com
See video comparison of uncut and cut versions from YouTube

Wolfenstein II: Welcome to Amerika suffers the following cuts:

• Hitler is renamed heiler (healer)
• My fuhrer becomes mein Kanzler (my chancellor)
• Hitler loses his iconic moustache
• The swastika is replaced by a stark menacing looking three-pronged symbol
• polygon.com also speculates that an actor is shot by Hitler for being a spy rather than being jewish.