Rockstar appeals Manhunt 2 ban

Rockstar Games has filed an official plea with the BBFC to get its banned Manhunt 2 game onto the market.

Manhunt 2 became the first game to be banned in the UK for 10 years last month after the BBFC referred to its “unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone”.

Rockstar has used almost the full six weeks allowed to exercise its right to reply and has now submitted its appeal to the Video Appeals Committee (VAC). The last game to be banned was Carmageddon in 1997, but this was finally overturned by the VAC.

Manhunt 2 was also banned in Ireland while in Italy, politicians are seeking a similar ban. The game has also become the only console game in the US to receive an Adult-Oriented (AO) rating which is a massive blow to its chances of success since the major retailers, like Wal-Mart and Best Buy, will not stock AO-rated games. The game’s launch has since been temporarily suspended as Rockstar re-works the content.

“Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly,” BBFC director David Cooke said when banning Manhunt 2. “Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board’s published Guidelines.”

“In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible. Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.”