Omega Labyrinth Z RPG Banned in the UK

The Japanese role-playing game Omega Labyrinth Z has been banned in the UK due to controversial content that contributed to the "salacious nature of the game," according to the UK's Video Standards Council.

The Council banned the PlayStation 4 and PS Vita game from releasing in the region while saying that the game "clearly promotes the sexualisation of children." With nudity, sexual themes, and other content included in the game, the Council described some of the gameplay while raising issue with the themes being associated with such young characters.

"This game contains strong sexual themes and nudity," the Council said in a statement. Throughout the course of the game the player is required to take part in a series of mini-games which feature frequent female sexual nudity, eroticisation and sexual innuendo. The player is required, on occasion, to sexually arouse the female characters by touching their intimate areas via a touch screen or by using the analogue thumb sticks.

"The player can choose to interact with any of the playable characters. One of the girls, in particular, is very youthful both visually and vocally, thus reinforcing the salacious nature of the game."

The Council's statement continued to list more questionable content included in the game while adding that the gameplay wasn't atypical for this type of game, though the inclusion of children and other youthful characters is where the problem exists. A decision was ultimately made to not provide Omega Labyrinth Z with a UK Certificate of Classification. After referencing the school-like environment and suggested ages of the characters that were mentioned at points in the statement, the Council classified the game as one that posed a "serious danger" before issuing a final statement about the game's presumed effect on younger audiences.

"There is a serious danger that impressionable people, i.e. children and young people viewing the game would conclude that the sexual activity represented normal sexual behaviour. There is a constant theme of sexual innuendo and activity throughout the game that suggests behaviour likely to normalise sexual activity towards children. As a means of reward gained by successfully navigating the game, the player has the means to sexually stimulate the female characters by using either a hand held remote device or touch screen software.

"The VSC Rating Board believes this content in a game, which would have strong appeal to non-adult players, is an issue which would be unacceptable to the majority of UK consumers and, more importantly, has the potential to be significantly harmful in terms of the social and moral development of younger people in particular."

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