Outlast II verboden in Australië
In Australië heeft de daartoe bevoegde instantie geweigerd om Outlast II een rating te geven, waardoor de game in de praktijk effectief verboden is in het land. De demo had al een stevige R18+ rating gekregen, maar de volledige game kan volgens het Australian Classification Board dus helemaal niet door de beugel.
Concreet verwijst de instantie naar sectie Games 1(a) van de National Classification Code, een algemeen artikel waarin gesteld wordt dat geen rating zal worden gegeven aan games waarin seks, drugs, geweld, misdaad etc. zodanig aanwezig zijn dat ze "algemeen door redelijke volwassenen aanvaarde morele norm" overschrijden.
In het geval van Outlast II lijkt de instantie voornamelijk een probleem te hebben met erg expliciet seksueel geweld. Een nauwkeurige beschrijving daarvan kan je vinden op de tweede pagina van dit bericht, maar opgelet dus voor stevige spoilers.
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A female creature prepares Blake for a ritual. She says, “I want to see your true face. Your seed will burn this world.” Shortly afterwards, he objects to having psycho-active dust blown into his face, yelling, “Nope! Nope!” before he stumbles into a forest clearing. His vision blurring, he witnesses what appears to a ritualistic orgy. His wife, Lynn, calls out for his help, saying, “It hurts! Oh god!,” as she hangs from chains on a raised platform at the front of the clearing. Humanoid creatures, their skin grey, spattered with blood and scarred, implicity have sex as others pray, or chant, or gesticulate. One creature has another bent over a rock, thrusting as they implicitly have rear-entry sex, another sits astride the pelvic region of a creature prone on the ground, moving their hips rhythmically as they too implicitly have sex. Two other pairs of creatures in the clearing are also implicitly having sex. As Blake yells for the creatures to “Get away from her!” a female creature, her greyish breasts bared, pushes him onto his back, holds his arms to the ground and repeatedly thrusts her crotch against him. As Blake protests, saying “No! Stop that!” the creature thrusts again, before placing its face over his midsection and then sitting up and wiping its mouth. Although much of the contact between the creature and Blake is obscurred, by it taking place below screen, the sexualised surroundings and aggressive behaviour of the creature suggest that it is an assault which is sexual in nature. The Board is of the opinion that this, combined with Blake’s objections and distress, constitutes a depiction of implied sexual violence. In the Board’s opinion, the above example constitutes a depiction of implied sexual violence and therefore cannot be accommodated within the R18+ classification category and the game is therefore Refused Classification. |
