There is no denying that Call of Duty: WWII is not everyone’s cup of tea. The game is full of violence and captures the terror of the World War II. However, it seems Activision went a bit too far, at least according to the Australian Classification Board authorities, and had to modify the content, because of a scene, containing sexual assault implications.
The Australian Classification Board had to rate the Call of Duty: WWII twice, which evoked people’s curiosity as games are usually rated only once. That’s why the Kotaku team decided to outreach the Classification Board and ask why they had to re-rate the much-anticipated shooter.
The Call of Duty: WWII was first rated R18+ and re-rated R18+, but this time around, the Classification Board representatives included a “Threat of sexual violence” in the Consumer Advice column. Consequently, Activision had to alter the content and remove the scene, containing “a reference to sexual violence that is justified by context.”
According to the released information, the following scene has led to the necessity of content modification:
“In one section of the game, the player controls Rosseau, a female spy, as she infiltrates a German building. While inside, she witnesses a woman as she is dragged by a Nazi soldier into a closet, against her will, screaming, ‘You’re all pigs!’
Rosseau opens the closet door, as the soldier says, ‘Leave. This is none of your business.’ The player is then given the option to kill the soldier or leave.
If the player chooses to leave, the player closes the door, as the soldier is heard unziping his fly and viewed advancing towards the woman. She screams, ‘Ah! Get away from me!’ as Rosseau leaves. It is implied that the soldier is going to sexually assault the woman, but at no time is the assault depicted.”
In the second Call of Duty: WWII version, the woman clothes are altered. The audio track of the NPC soldier unzipping his fly is also removed.
It is a well-known fact that content involving nudity, violence, drugs and sexual abuse comes under severe censure by Australian authorities. What is more, some video games are never released on the Australian market as they are considered non-compliant with the established regulations. In this respect, Activision has made the right decision to alter the CoD: WWII content for Australian players. There is no telling if the publisher would edit the other game versions around the world.
Call of Duty: WWII launches across all platforms on November 3rd.
Source: Kotaku
