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posted by chromas on Friday April 19 2019, @11:12PM   Printer-friendly
from the don't-be-sexy-while-I'm-blowing-dudes('-heads-off) dept.

Sony explains its new policy regarding sexual content in games

Sony has a problem with sexual content on the PS4. While that was mere speculation for the last year or so (despite numerous stories saying otherwise), a recent report from the Wall Street Journal has outright confirmed the policy shift from the platform holder. In an interview with the publication, a Sony US official said, "Sony is concerned the company could become a target of legal and social action," hence the shift on sexual content.

As detailed in the report, a lot of this new policy is a reaction to the #MeToo movement. Executives at Sony are worried about the reputation of the platform if it continues to host content that sexually objectifies women. As well as social movements, Sony is concerned over the advent of streaming services allowing region-specific content to be viewed on a global scale. Since some standards only apply to certain countries, Sony doesn't want to be seen hosting a game in the US that's hyper-sexually charged.

This has obviously angered some game developers. As one unnamed [chief executive of a small game developer in Japan] told the Wall Street Journal, "You don't know what they will say until you complete the work and submit it for review. And if they are not happy, even if they allowed the same degree of sexuality a few days before, we need to take it back and ask our staff to make adjustments. That's very costly."

Archived copy of WSJ article.

Also at Kotaku.


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  • (Score: 2) by Magic Oddball on Saturday April 20 2019, @01:40AM

    by Magic Oddball (3847) on Saturday April 20 2019, @01:40AM (#832396) Journal

    I haven't played the others yet, but in GTA IV at least, drugs aren't an option and the game never indicates that it's possible to have sex with the prostitutes, let alone how to hire them; even if you do, most of the time the character (Niko) makes comments indicating that he's not at all happy about it. Further, when one drug-addicted young woman does offer in a cutscene, he reacts with paternal horror. The only time the game makes sex an obvious option AFAIK is at the end of a date.

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