BBFC: Heavy Rain warrants 15 rating despite heavy adult themes

The British Board of Film Classification has said that, despite Heavy Rain depicting child murder, a serial killer and prostitution, it still warrants a 15 rating.

The BBFC's classification description reveals "strong language, violence and sex”, and the board passed the game with zero cuts made to content.

"The videogame was classified on its level of violence and detail," a spokesperson for the BBFC told incGamers.

"It's not uncommon for people to die in videogames and a lot of videogames have death in them. People are always being killed in videogames.

"These are obviously not real people, or real people acting, and it all depends on the level of blood and violence. We use the same classification for games as we do for films, and this game is suitable for a 15 audience."

Rated M for Mature in the US, the game may not see an uncut release Down Under, where the ratings system is more strict.

However, Quantic Dream head David Cage has said previously that the developer will not edit without a fight.

“For Australia, at the moment as far as I know, they take the game as it is. So I don’t know, but I think we need to fight a little bit for that and evangelise," he said during the Eurogamer Expo last year.

“We haven’t had this discussion yet. We have to make some cuts for certain territories, honestly they’ve been – so far – quite minor cuts. So there is nothing where I felt like, ‘oh my entire experience has totally changed because I had to make those changes.”