Games News

The US campaign group Morality in Media, which now calls itself the National Center for Sexual Exploitation as if it was some sort of state institution,  has whinged at the video games distribution platform, Steam.

The group complains that Steam allows multiple games on the platform portraying sexual violence, including Mirror, Love Vibe: Aria, My Servant and the Stranger Astensia, and House Party.

The platform made a June 2018 decision to minimise censorship and allow all types of games except for ones that are illegal, or straight up trolling.

Morality in Media particularly points out:

• Mirror that depicts rape scenes and even has a meter to measure the amount of pain and discomfort being inflicted by the player,
• My Servant and the Stranger Astensia that promotes rape scenes and sexual harassment, and
• House Party that contains nudity, sex via intoxication, blackmail and deception. Steam has reportedly updated House Party to censor nudity, MiM added.

Executive Director of MiM Dawn Hawkins said in a statement:

Parents need to know that these games normalize the sexual use, and often abuse, of others. When video games include sexually graphic and degrading themes, the user is not only a voyeur but an active participant in staging the scene. Steam should immediately change its policies to stop hosting such sexually explicit material,

To make matters worse, since Steam implemented an 'anything goes' policy with few exceptions, sexually exploitative games on Steam have skyrocketed, going from just over 700 games tagged for the keyword nudity in 2017 to now 3,911 in 2020.

Riot Games will censor bloody imagery from their latest title Valorant during esports tournaments in order to appeal to potential sponsors and broadcasters.

Game blood became a contentious issue when Riot Games began approaching esports organisations to consider Valorant's planned competitive scene.

In general, professional esports leagues feature titles with minimal bloody violence to create more inclusive, all-ages showcases.

Valorant, currently in beta, does feature graphic blood but there is a 'show blood option that can be toggled off.

Riot Games has issued an edict that all professional esports leagues must play tournaments with this setting off, ensuring no blood is seen during gameplay.

Hatred is a 2015 shooter action game from Destructive Creation

Originally hyped via controversy over it being the latest 'sickest game ever'. It was notably AO rated in the US but didn't trouble many censors elsewhere outside of Germany. However many outlets refused to sell it anyway.

Now in 2020, Destructive Creations, which insists Hatred is an answer to the polite, colorful, politically correct trends found in many games, has announced it's coming to Switch.

The game is one of only three to receive a US Adults Only rating for extreme violence, something Manhunt 2 and the unrelreased Thrill Kill can lay claim to, so it'll be interesting to see if Hatred arrives on Nintendo's eShop, which doesn't allow games with that rating. Hatred could get a physical-only release, or it might have some of the more extreme content removed.

The video game designer Activision has announced that Sony's Russia branch is refusing to release Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered on the PS Store.

While the publisher did not give an explicit reason for this decision, it is more than likely because of the No Russian mission, which centered around a mass shooting perpetrated by Russian terrorists and the player. The content subsequently caused a massive debate, garnered widespread criticism, and originally led to a disclaimer and an option to skip the mission being added.

According to a tweet by the official Call of Duty Russia account, Sony Interactive Entertainment Russia refused to sell the game on the PlayStation Store. However, Activision did reassure players that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 s remastered campaign would still be available for Xbox One and PC in Russia.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered is out now for PS4, with a PC and Xbox One version launching on April 30.