Outlast 2 afgewezen in Australië wegens seksueel geweld

De aankomende first-person horrorgame Outlast 2 is afgewezen door het Australische rating board omdat het expliciet seksueel geweld zou bevatten. Uit sommige beschrijvingen wordt duidelijk dat hoofdpersoon Blake tijdens de game af en toe flink onder handen wordt genomen door niet nader te noemen wezens.

In Outlast 2 speel je als freelance journalist Blake Langermann en onderzoek je samen met je eega de moord op een zwangere vrouw. Het spel wordt net als zijn voorganger gekenmerkt door een zekere mate van machteloosheid, want Blake kan zich niet of nauwelijks verweren en zal confrontatie grotendeels uit de weg moeten gaan.

Ergens gedurende de game bevindt de speler zich in een uiterst benarde situatie waarbij zowel Blake als zijn vrouw zijn vastgebonden en een roedel mensachtige schepsels hun ogenschijnlijk seksuele verlangens botvieren op de lichamen van het echtpaar. De volledige scène is beschreven door het Australian Classification Board, met hun eigen verklaring waarom de game geen rating kan krijgen. Bevat uiteraard spoilers!

In one cut-scene in the game ... a female creature prepares Blake for a ritual. She says, "I want to see your true face. Your seed will burn this world." Shortly afterwards, he objects to having psycho-active dust blown into his face, yelling, "Nope! Nope!" before he stumbles into a forest clearing.

His vision blurring, he witnesses what appears to a ritualistic orgy. His wife, Lynn, calls out for his help, saying, "It hurts! Oh god!," as she hangs from chains on a raised platform at the front of the clearing. Humanoid creatures, their skin grey, spattered with blood and scarred, implicity have sex as others pray, or chant, or gesticulate.

One creature has another bent over a rock, thrusting as they implicitly have rear-entry sex, another sits astride the pelvic region of a creature prone on the ground, moving their hips rhythmically as they too implicitly have sex. Two other pairs of creatures in the clearing are also implicitly having sex.

As Blake yells for the creatures to "Get away from her!" a female creature, her greyish breasts bared, pushes him onto his back, holds his arms to the ground and repeatedly thrusts her crotch against him. As Blake protests, saying "No! Stop that!" the creature thrusts again, before placing its face over his midsection and then sitting up and wiping its mouth.

Although much of the contact between the creature and Blake is obscurred, by it taking place below screen, the sexualised surroundings and aggressive behaviour of the creature suggest that it is an assault which is sexual in nature. The Board is of the opinion that this, combined with Blake's objections and distress, constitutes a depiction of implied sexual violence.

In the Board's opinion, the above example constitutes a depiction of implied sexual violence and therefore cannot be accommodated within the R18+ classification category and the game is therefore Refused Classification.