Afgelopen week maakte het Australian Classification Board bekend dat het geen leeftijdsclassificatie wilde toewijzen aan Outlast 2. Vanwege “sterk seksueel geweld” zou zelfs een 18+ beoordeling te mild zijn. Zonder leeftijdsclassificatie mogen games niet verkocht worden in Australië en dus was Outlast 2 al voor de release verboden. Nu komt het Classification Board op zijn besluit terug.
In een nieuw rapport krijgt Outlast 2 een 18+ beoordeling. Het spel krijgt een “high impact”-classificatie (de hoogst mogelijke graad) voor seks en geweld, en “strong impact” voor taalgebruik en naaktheid. Het drugsgebruik in de game werd voorzien van het “moderate impact”-zegel.
In een officiële verklaring stelt ontwikkelaar Red Barrels dat het Outlast 2 niet heeft aangepast om een lagere beoordeling te krijgen:
Outlast 2 has been rated R18+ by the Classification Branch in Australia and will be released 26th April 2017. There will be only one version of Outlast 2 available worldwide.In onderstaande tekst beschrijft het Australian Classification Board de scène die er bijna voor zorgde dat Outlast 2 verbannen werd. Let wel: het fragment bevat spoilers en is sterk seksueel getint.
n one cut-scene in the game … 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, implicitly 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 obscured, 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.
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