UPDATE: An earlier version of this article mentioned that the game hadn’t been rated in Australia. The Australian Classification Board has rated the game. Interestingly enough, it has only been given an MA 15+. Our rating mentions: Strong themes, violence, drug use and coarse language, online interactivity
http://www.classification.gov.au/Pages/View.aspx?sid=XaUO9wB8H8Kq%2FPk5E2cFtw%3D%3D
The ESRB has released its findings in relation to Detroit: Become Human, which scored itself a Mature rating. It received this rating due to its content which includes blood, intense violence, partial nudity, sexual themes, strong language and use of drugs. It’s hard to know what that translates to in regards to our rating system, but drug use has been a bit of a red flag over the journey.
The game’s summary is:
“This is an action game in which players follow the stories of various androids as they interact with humans in a futuristic Detroit. From a third-person perspective, players explore environments, examine crime scenes, and perform tasks while navigating conversations and events with other characters. Some sequences depict characters punching, stabbing, or shooting one another (occasionally seen in slow-motion); characters (including police officers) may also be executed in a handful of scenes. One dramatic sequence involves a man striking a child across the face; players later hear audio of the man beating the child with a belt (the beating is not visually depicted). Homicide scenes sometimes depict human corpses with bloodstained wounds or clothing.
The game includes some sexual material and nudity: a sex club containing pole-dancing androids in revealing outfits; a crime scene describing human-android sex (no sexual activity is depicted); an article titled “Android Sex Officially Better!”; posters depicting women in provocative poses barely covering their genitals. During the course of the game, there are several references to a drug called “Red Ice,” a fictional version of methamphetamines; one character can be seen smoking the drug from a pipe. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” appear in the dialogue.”
There has been a bit of a campaign of late which sees a small group trying to get the game banned for its depictions of domestic violence, as detailed in the paragraphs above.
But given the track record of the Classifications Board, it’s far more likely that Detroit will receive issues thanks to its depictions of drug use, especially if the player-character receives a buff or perk from taking the drug.
