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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 20 2019, @09:33AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 20 2019, @09:33AM (#832491)

    Are you trying to point out how DOA6 characters are dressed up a lot more than previous games as a way of them potentially trying to clean up the game?

    If so, don't worry, I highly doubt that even registered with them. It's far more likely they did it to help increase sales in the hundreds to eventually thousands of dollars of scantily clad costume dlc the game will have before it's run it's course. They tried it with DOA5 and apparently made a good deal of cash from the whales, but probably realized the default costumes were fanservice enough for a good portion of the customer base. So they 'fixed' that.

  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday April 20 2019, @05:01PM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Saturday April 20 2019, @05:01PM (#832628) Journal

    No, the studio apparently pulled a bait and switch with its critics, or was misinterpreted. Regardless of any $93 DLC profit motives, the results [eurogamer.net] were hilarious [eurogamer.net].

    Wrestler Tina Armstrong's skimpy outfit at least makes some sort of sense, in a WWE diva kind of way, but her interactions with wrestling partner and father Bass give off more than a whiff of that most uncomfortable of relationships: Donald and Ivanka Trump.

    I wouldn't urge Snotnose or anybody to blow $160 on the full game or whatever it is, but getting the game on sale or trying out the previous titles would show some support for the studio for not giving a fuck about puritans.

    --
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