South Park: "we did not censor or edit the game in any shape or form," says ratings body
South Park: The Stick of Truth has been censored in Europe, the UK and other regions, in a move determined by Ubisoft's own marketing team. We went straight to the ratings body that advises PEGI standards, to find that it had no problem with the cut scenes.
"PEGI does not have the ability to censor video games, nor has it ever done so. It is highly likely that only the developer themselves would intervene to make any changes"
We reported on the censored South Park scenes yesterday, which involve five counts of anal probing and two abortion scenes. The German edition also has Nazi swastikas removed in accordance with the nation's law.
Speaking with VG247 over email, a Video Standards rep explained the fine details of its South Park: The Stick of Truth appraisal.
"The game was assessed by us and deemed acceptable for a PEGI 18 rating," the rep began. "For some games released in the UK, we are obliged to consider UK legislation as it currently affects video games (the Video Recordings Act 2010.) This consideration applies to games which are likely to attain a PEGI 12, 16 or 18 rating and which may contain potentially harmful or illegal material. As there was no such issue with the game, it was duly given its PEGI 18.
"Let me emphasise that we did not censor or edit the game in any shape or form."
"PEGI does not have the ability to censor video games," they stressed, "nor has it ever done so. It is highly likely that only the developer themselves would intervene to make any changes.
"As far as Ubisoft is concerned, all we know is that at some point a decision was made to change the game content for their own marketing reasons. Those reasons are not something that we are privy too, so we are not able to give you any further details."
We are currently playing the game to form our final impressions and we have witness the censored scenes in question. We're under embargo until next week so we will have more on the cut content once we're able to discuss it.
What's your view on Ubisoft's decision to censor the game? Let us know below.