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Windows 8 Marketplace won’t sell 18-rated games

windows-8-marketplace

If you haven’t yet taken a leisurely perusal through the Windows 8 App guidelines, you won’t know that Section 6.2 states that “Apps with a rating over PEGI 16, ESRB MATURE, or a corresponding rating under other ratings systems as described in the table below, are not allowed”. Not a problem for word processors, of course – but it now transpires that the rule also stands for the most consistently adult-rated apps there are – PC games.

Kotaku received confirmation from a Microsoft representative yesterday that Section 6.2 will indeed apply to games. While in the US it’s extremely rare to see anything above ESRB MATURE – think Manhunt 2 and ‘Hot Coffee’ era San Andreas, the very peaks of gaming controversy – PEGI regularly classes games as ‘adult content’ by slapping them with an 18 rating.

In the European Windows 8 Marketplace, then, there’ll be a vast array of high profile games notable by their absence. While there’ll be nothing stopping publishers from continuing to sell them on the platform through another digital market stall (a number immediately spring to mind), they’ll be faced with the choice to either cut ‘adult’ content or miss out on the Windows 8-specific functionality that comes with Microsoft’s endorsement.

PEGI 18-rated games games include Skyrim, Modern Warfare 3, and Dishonored. No Dishonored! Just as well we didn’t bother reviewing it, really.

Our Tim has already uninstalled Windows 8. Will you be giving Microsoft’s new OS the benefit of the doubt, knowing what we do now?