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[Claus Grimhildyr]

Calling a videogame console manufacturer's decision to limit sexuality in games on their machine "authoritarian" seems a little dramatic to me. It's a free market, isn't it? Buy Nintendo or Xbox or game on PC if you don't want to support what you see as tyranny. Sony has every right to have a moral mission statement as a company and to take actions in such a way that support that agenda. If it's a more "family friendly" library of games, that's 100% their prerogative.

And we have a right to criticize these draconian practices. As for a "family friendly" library of games - I am now 100% sure you are trolling. Nintendo has a far more family friendly catalog and even they are no longer pushing for this idiotic censorship.

 

[Dunki]

Even the good one?!

Yes. I canceled my Days Gone and Judgement Pre-order as well. I would love to play these games but I have my principles. This is also why I have not played Metro and Anno 1800 as well. Also Outer Worlds will be a game I will certainly miss to play.

 

[The Mad Draklor]

Yes. I canceled my Days Gone and Judgement Pre-order as well. I would love to play these games but I have my principles. This is also why I have not played Metro and Anno 1800 as well. Also Outer Worlds will be a game I will certainly miss to play.

You can buy the game used, so that way you still get to play the game without giving Sony your money.

 

[Dunki]

You can buy the game used, so that way you still get to play the game without giving Sony your money.

I do not buy games used. ^^

 

[OldGamer]

Curiously, this seems to be a trend of increasing Japanese conservatism within Sony in recent years. Microsoft and Western devs an dpublishers still appear to have a free pass in this case. While western devs have been more mature about the content included into the game, there has been little cases of outright censorship of what is already put into the game except in very rare isolated cases.

I dont undestatand this controversy. I wonder if its because im too old to care about nude polygonal characters.

All I care about its good games and apparently almost everyone thinks like me.

I can sympathize and understand since personally, sexuality in video games isn't something that i generally desire.

However, this more has to do with the ghettoization of video games as an art form and a current sign of either increasing or current internal view as video games being children's fodder and little more.

There exists a rating system but that system is apparently irrelevent in terms of video games.

Note that this is NOT the decision of the ESRB, because the ESRB isn't interfering with such content being allowed into games. It's squarely a Sony issue.

 

[The Mad Draklor]

I do not buy games used. ^^

Fair enough.

 

[Endless Fluff]

I think this is a responsible move for Sony and I respect them for it. Children shouldn't be exposed to sexuality in videogames. I wish Xbox would follow this path (I'm an Xbox owner and dad).

It has nothing to do with protecting the children and being more "family friendly". Sony is afraid of the social justice they could run into whenever someone releases a "problematic" game.

“Sony is concerned the company could become a target of legal and social action,”

Sony is afraid of sexy games tarnishing their brand

Sony officials said executives at the company have grown concerned that its global reputation could take a hit from sexually explicit content sold only in a few markets. One of their biggest concerns is software sold in the company’s home market of Japan, which traditionally has had more tolerance for near-nudity and images of young women who might appear underage.

They think games like this turn men into rapists and them having such games would make them enablers

Two factors last year combined to turn that unease into action, these Sony officials say. One was the rise of the #MeToo movement in the U.S., which pointed to the dangers of being associated with content that some might see as demeaning to women.

They don't care about your kids.

 

[OldGamer]

That is deliberately done though. By being vague about the policy, it makes it far easier to deflect criticism.

That's another thing here. Sony is being very cowardly and generally evasive about this practice. They are not openly taking a stand or making a statement here with clear guidelines like NIntendo did in the 90s. The practice so far has been very wishy washy and completely arbitrary and perhaps even random.

The efforts have been rather bumbling more than anything.

 

[petran79]

Curiously, this seems to be a trend of increasing Japanese conservatism within Sony in recent years. Microsoft and Western devs an dpublishers still appear to have a free pass in this case. While western devs have been more mature about the content included into the game, there has been little cases of outright censorship of what is already put into the game except in very rare isolated cases.

I wonder if they'll allow Leisure Suit Larry: Wet Dreams Dont Dry after this. It was rated for PS4 and Switch 2 months ago. Is supposed to get a summer release.

 

[LOLCats]

Boobs not guns. Thats all i have to say. Tired of this BS, Voost is right.

I have cut my playstation purchases to nearly nothing over the last 6 months. I aint buying shit except for Judgement and thats because i want to support the dev not Sony.

 

[hunthunt]

I wonder what would happen with a game like The Witcher 3 for example, sure Sony would get a lot hate if they censor all those beautifully textured and well animated tits.

 

[Enygger_Tzu]

It’s funny because like 1/4th of the Last Of Us 2 trailer was an uncomfortably close shot of two women making out. Guess only certain kinds of sexuality are okay.

Certain kinds of sexuality are MORE than OK by Sony's (double) standards. Remember, this is the same company that openly celebrated the game Dream Daddy: Gay dating simulator arriving in their console while banning Super Seducer 2 from their lists.

SJWony...

 

[VAL0R]

I don't know what Sony's motives are. I speculated that perhaps they wanted to have a more "family friendly" library (which could be motivated by many factors, such as profit, brand protection/reputation, moral considerations, etc.). A more family friendly library than what they would otherwise have, was my point. Not family friendly per se. Of course they still have MK, GoW, etc., etc.

I'm not even a fan of Sony and am not really interested in defending them further.

 

[The Mad Draklor]

I don't know what Sony's motives are. I speculated that perhaps they wanted to have a more "family friendly" library (which could be motivated by many factors, such as profit, brand protection/reputation, moral considerations, etc.). A more family friendly library than what they would otherwise have, was my point. Not family friendly per se. Of course they still have MK, GoW, etc., etc.

I'm not even a fan of Sony and am not really interested in defending them further.

And your claim of Sony wanting a more "family friendly" library is based on your premise that "children shouldn't be exposed to sexuality in games".

There's a rather simple solution to your premise: don't buy the games that have sexual content and therefore, your children won't be exposed to them.

 

[Stuart360]

'Kids shouldnt be exposed to sexuality in games', well thats what the ratings are for. Blame the parents foir letting kids play adult games, dont penalize everyone else.

 

[Enygger_Tzu]

I'm not even a fan of Sony and am not really interested in defending them further.

If you did all that defence without getting paid or even be a fan, I don't know what to say...

 

[Stuart360]

I dont really get how many people are defending this (well i do get it). I mean even if this doesn't bother you at all, surely you agree that censorship is bad right?

 

[CatCouch]

Sony at the very least needs to have guidelines. The fact they don't and have been so reluctant to even acknowledge they are doing this tells me they are not confident it's the right move.

“We don’t have criteria in written guidelines or that sort of thing because the policy was introduced kind of suddenly in the wake of the #MeToo movement,” the official said.

This is some shockingly bad leadership from Sony. I can't see this lasting.

Hurting the developers is a bad move and I suspect that if this WSJ article is accurate that there will be quite a few Japanese developers moving to other platforms (which we already see happening to some degree). No guidelines means every decision carries risk.

Sony used to be the one-stop-shop for anime games. One or two games might not matter but if they lose any noticeable chunk of that market it could hurt Sony. I have more than 100 anime style PS4 games so there's a lot of them.

At least Nintendo stands to benefit from this considering they responded to the WSJ and stated they will not restrict sexual content and allow the rating boards to do their thing.

 

[The Mad Draklor]

I dont really get how many people are defending this (well i do get it). I mean even if this doesn't bother you at all, surely you agree that censorship is bad right?

I guarantee you that someone will eventually go into the "Well, all games are technically censored" semantic argument.

 

[TheDuskwalker]

 

[LOLCats]

Im going on a twitter rampage.

 

[TeamGhobad]

so cp2077 which will be very mature and have lots of nudity will be more uncensored on xbox. thats great.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Modern left wing culture in the US completely fucking hates male heterosexuality on every level, you'll notice that male heterosexuality is specifically what's being targeted, Ellie can kiss a girl in Last of Us part 2 but God forbid there be anything in a game now that's not within the LGBT bracket.

I don't understand it, hopefully this is not a trend that lasts forever and while I hate it as much as the next guy I guess we just have to accept for the time being that sexual content is not something you're going to see in a game from a US based developer for the time being.

Of course what makes this so shitty is Sony's policy isn't just affecting US games but Japanese ones as well, why does Sony always get so arrogant after a while? We're a long way away from the Sony of God of war 1-3 or Champions of Norrath.

 

[cabbage5k2]

From the article: “We don’t have criteria in written guidelines or that sort of thing because the policy was introduced kind of suddenly in the wake of the #MeToo movement,” the official said.

Whether the corporation is legitimately afraid of lawsuits or it's the US-based leadership taking advantage of the situation, I have no interest in owning further game hardware from Sony, if they're determined to act as a moral governing body, above the existing ratings boards. Hopefully going into the next generation of hardware, developers--Japanese and otherwise--will show Sony where they can shove this BS.

Nintendo will be more than happy to pick up all the money Sony leaves behind through these sort of actions. Quite ironic really.

 

[Isa]

At least they finally said something. Really a bummer move by Sony though, and ensures that I'll be skipping the PS5.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

For any gaming employees worried about Sony's policies, here's the recap:

1. You are a first party employee. No action needed. Do whatever you want

2. You are an employee from a large third party company. We might clamp down on stuff, but almost never. We might cause a stir, but we are selective and only do it to scare off people from #3. If you're game is huge like GTA, green light. Do what you want

3. You are an employee from a small dev. Get your act in order retards. If you want to release that game on PS systems free from censorship, bump up your game to AAA status...... or sell your studio to us. As you can see, most of our biggest games and studios are from acquisitions

 

[Sqorin Hammerfarf]

At least they finally said something.

Yeah, but it's so much worse now. It's like going to the doctor with a stomach ache.

You: Doc, what's going on with my stomach?

Doc: ...

You: Oh, god. It's cancer, isn't it? I have cancer?

Doc: ...

You: Please. Just say something. I can take it.

Doc: It's cancer...

You: I knew it...

Doc: And I'm sleeping with your wife...

You: What?

Doc: And your mom...

You: Jesus Christ!

Doc: And your dog...

You: *uncontrollable sobbing*

 

[LOLCats]

Also interesting when even Era has a lot of people disagreeing with it then you know you fucked up Sony^^

Not really. Most of those guys associate tits and ass to pedophilia.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

At least they finally said something. Really a bummer move by Sony though, and ensures that I'll be skipping the PS5.

Gamers have been wondering about this for ages. Who knew it would take the WSJ to get Sony to respond.

 

[Athena~]

I don't know what Sony's motives are. I speculated that perhaps they wanted to have a more "family friendly" library (which could be motivated by many factors, such as profit, brand protection/reputation, moral considerations, etc.). A more family friendly library than what they would otherwise have, was my point. Not family friendly per se. Of course they still have MK, GoW, etc., etc.

I'm not even a fan of Sony and am not really interested in defending them further.

That’s ok you will be a fan soon.

How could you not when we get Big Brother Sony watching over and guiding us? Big Brother knows what’s best for us and we will all be happy under his care.

Welcome to the Sony(Holy) land!

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I don't know what Sony's motives are. I speculated that perhaps they wanted to have a more "family friendly" library (which could be motivated by many factors, such as profit, brand protection/reputation, moral considerations, etc.). A more family friendly library than what they would otherwise have, was my point. Not family friendly per se. Of course they still have MK, GoW, etc., etc.

I'm not even a fan of Sony and am not really interested in defending them further.

Maximizing sales.

Like every piece of tech or social media, the second they hit a critical mass they think it right, a company will go into curation mode. At the moment of time, they feel they have enough sales, users and growth to keep on trucking, at the expense of losing the small number of people or products that seem more like a black eye image.

Since tech/social media needs a fast ramp up, they will let slide stupid things because they need the user base. That's why they never go ballsy on curation at the beginning stages.

It's like Apple.

Way back, it was all about being a rebel, PC users are morons, IBM is boring etc..... The second they got U2 to promote iPods and everything snowballed into a humongous mainstream company, all the rebel image BS is thrown out the window. Cash is king.

Believe it or not, lots of loyal Mac users hated when Apple transitioned to Intel and running MS Office. But money talks.

Now it's all about conforming to the masses with cookie cutting specs and mass appeal...... "I"m a teacher, I'm a doctor, I'm a fireman..... and we all use Apple computers!" Where the fuck was this kind of ad in the 80s and 90s?

 

[The Mad Draklor]

Welcome to the Sony(Holy Light) land!

Fixed a bit considering that's what Sony has become notorious for

 

[Enjay]

The only last thing Sony fans can hold onto these days, since theyve lost everything else.

They have this for now. Their interactive cinema projects are already getting tired.

 

[The Chairman]

I bought every PS console day one from the PS1 to the PS4 Pro but after this Censorship stuff and their exclusive movie games they like to shit out every six months, i'm finally done with Sony, even the exclusives that kept me buying their consoles like the Yakuza series and other japanese games are getting ported to PC, so why would i buy the PS5 if i can play uncensored Japanese and Western games at 4K 60fps right now on my PC?

So guys just invest in a decent PC and stop supporting this crazy company.

Spoiler: NSFW

 

[A.Romero]

This is from the company that allowed sex scenes in previous God of War and Witcher 3 includes the very same sex content as other platforms. Not to mention RDR2.

This is very stupidly applied. If they dare to censor something like Cyberpunk I'll believe they have an ideal behind the decisions. Otherwise is just very dumb pandering.

 

[Karuyag]

I think they should just offer "player choice" on this kinda stuff, like a toggle or something.

Mature content: Yes/No

Makes me wonder if a third party is forcing them to do this. Why now?

 

[Sqorin Hammerfarf]

Makes me wonder if a third party is forcing them to do this. Why now?

It's Twitch. They basically admit as much, and it makes sense. The only folks who hate anime titties more are the assholes controlling Twitch.

 

[Dunki]

I think they should just offer "player choice" on this kinda stuff, like a toggle or something.

Mature content: Yes/No

Makes me wonder if a third party is forcing them to do this. Why now?

They are not forced by ANYONE.

It is probably some stupid feminist got a new job and is now dictating their policy rules and if they do not comply she will probably bitterly cry and tell everyone how oppressed she is.

And No I do not know why but arrogant Sony is back and I am out.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

I think they should just offer "player choice" on this kinda stuff, like a toggle or something.

Mature content: Yes/No

Makes me wonder if a third party is forcing them to do this. Why now?

some people want games to have an easy mode. why not a sexy mode?

 

[JordanN]

Sony citing the #metoo movement pretty much marked the beginning of the end. What a shame, just when I was getting back into Playstation again, and then they go full California turbo SJW.

A future message to all other Japanese companies. Stay the fuck where you are. Don't ever move your headquarters to America or any other place that will be infilitrated by Feminists/SJWs.

 

[CyberPanda]

Censorship is so lame.

 

[Palabragrís]

I've never stand for any kind of censorship and this is not the exception. The ESRB, ZERO and PEGI ranking were created for this very reason: to allow the consumer to choose whether they buy a game or not based on characteristics like violence, sexuality, nudity or the lack of it, which renders it completely unnecessary imo.

I think Sony is doing this because the new heads at the North American division are more conservative than the former ones, so they want to impose their social views (which coincide with the #MeToo movement and the so-called 'SJWs'), and also --and MORE importantly-- because they want to avoid any risk of legal issues, which could involve PR nightmares (which no other platform holder as suffered from at the moment, not even Valve with Steam) and risking losing any money in the way. The children? The perfect excuse, well accepted on a PR level of thinking, but not the main reason.

It's a shame Sony is doing this, even if it's perfectly legal for them to do so. Can it be considered a anti-consumer move from their part?

 

[CyberPanda]

Just remember people, you vote with your wallets.

 

[Palabragrís]

I hate it to live in a world where this here is ok but sexualized characters? HELL NO

Also this.
It's ridiculus that Sony is worried about "saving the development of children" by censoring anime characters or adding steam of light of butts, but at the same time showing this kind of stuff explicitily (and other kind of violence as well: anyone remembers the killing of that magical deer at the E3's GoW4 reveal gameplay?) just because... the heck I know. Dismembrements are more acceptable than anime-girls bathing at the hot springs?

 

[Dunki]

Just remember people, you vote with your wallets.

thats what I do. I wrote every Developer I am interested in that I had to cancel a pre order because of this censorship policy and asked if it will also be released on the PC.. I am just a small unknown person but that is all I can do.

 

[JordanN]

Just remember people, you vote with your wallets.

The biggest issue is even if we don't buy Playstation, Sony could still set up contracts that manipulate developers into bending the knee to them.

Before this news went public, remember Developers were not even allowed to talk about this new policy. So unless PS5 flops, we're still going to be screwed.

 

[Pimpbaa]

Well this thoroughly killed the hype I just had after seeing the ps5 specs.

 

[Palabragrís]

I'm a devout Bible-believing Roman Catholic with eight children, so my moral views are going to be wildly different from many of yours'. If I was king of the world I wouldn't permit blasphemy, extreme gore, sexual acts, nudity, and a slew of other things in any game or film. I think those things are immoral, bad for society and bad for the moral development of children.

Wowzer, I really kicked the hornets' nest with that little comment in appreciation of Sony's efforts!

Sir, is this some kind of parody? If not, then thank GOD you're not king of the world. I don't want my children to live as if we were in the 13th century. And I'm a father too, but I don't need any company or anyone else (but her mother!) to tell me how to raise my child. That's why I can't stand for any kind of censorship, especially when there are rules and institutions that already took care of the issue (in the case of the American continent, the ESRB).

 

[JordanN]

Well this thoroughly killed the hype I just had after seeing the ps5 specs.

At this point, just buy a PS5 used and never subscribe to PSN.

At least that way you can still support the developers while not giving to much money to Sony.

 

[Duellist]

I have been a Sony fanboy since I bought the ps1 back 20 some years ago. This is the first time that my plans of buying the next playstation have wavered. There is nothing more in this world I hate more than people or companies trying to dictate what i can and cant enjoy. Really disappointed in Sony.