WHAT’S THE STORY?
But big-budget title Red Dead Redemption 2 is also the subject of major controversy over allowing players to carry out violent attacks against a suffragette character.
Video sharing site YouTube took down clips of the animated violence earlier this week, together with comments mocking attacks on women, but yesterday the Google-owned giant put them back up as debate around the content and censorship continued.
THE GAME IS ABOUT ATTACKING WOMEN?
NO, it’s a Western about a male outlaw gang and its members and acts as a prequel to its 2010 forerunner.
Set in 1899, it allows players to travel across five states on a variety of missions, also taking in hunting and fishing, with praise lavished on its writing and graphics.
However, it also allows players – in the guise of a male character – to attack a suffragette engaged in street campaigning.
Players have recorded themselves shooting the mature woman in the face, tying her to train tracks, beating her to the ground and setting her on fire.
Comments left with online clips include assertions that the fictional figure “got what she wanted”, should have “stayed in the kitchen” or been “with her husband in public”.
Others included jokes about the ability to attack an “annoying feminist”.
HOW POPULAR IS THE GAME?
VERY. As many as 17 million copies were snapped up within 12 days of its release late last month.
Opening weekend sales were reportedly around £560 million.
The title is the work of Edinburgh studio Rockstar North, which was recently revealed to have a gender pay gap of almost 65%.
Women there earn £10 for every £16.40 made by their male colleagues.
There was also controversy over reported 100-hour work weeks by those working on the game in the run-up to release, but it has since been clarified that this applied to just a few staff.
WHAT HAS YOUTUBE SAID ABOUT THE MATERIAL?
ON Wednesday the platform deleted several videos, stating that these were in breach of its rules on acceptable content.
These include prohibitions on material categorised as “gratuitous violence, nudity, dangerous and illegal activities, and hate speech”.
However, that changed yesterday after vloggers and gamers criticised the move on social media.
Opponents called the deletion unfair and, in a statement, the website said it had made a “mistake”.
The videos in question, which include the murder of the character, are now subject to an 18-plus age restriction.
YouTube said: “Creative formats such as video games can be challenging to assess but when content crosses the line and is flagged to our attention, we take action as necessary.”
AND WHAT HAS THE STUDIO SAID?
SO far it hasn’t commented.
However, the developer is no stranger to controversy.
It is also the home of survival horror series Manhunt, which was described as the “Clockwork Orange of video games”.
And while its record-setting Grand Theft Auto series cemented its status as an industry leader, it also attracted condemnation for allowing players to pick up and kill prostitutes.
This is not possible in the 18-rated Red Dead Redemption 2, with child characters also protected from violence.
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