Red Cross calls on industry to make players accountable for war crimes

Given the increasing realism of video games, the International Committee of Red Cross has asked the games industry to implement in-game punishments for depicted acts in violation of international laws of war.

"Video games that are representing battlefields are very close to reality and actually it's very difficult to [tell] the difference between real footage and the footage you can get from video games," Francois Senechaud told the BBC, as transcribed by Gamasutra.

"We are arguing that we have to get even closer to reality and we also have to include the rules of conflict [as well]."

Acts featured in recent video games that are considered war crimes include shooting civilians, torture and stealing dog tags. Punishments for such crimes can be heavy - up to and including execution.