Release date |
Title |
Platform |
Developer/Publisher |
Reason(s)
|
2010 |
Medal of Honor |
PS3, Xbox 360, PC |
Danger Close Games, Electronic Arts (EA Digital Illusions CE) |
The multiplayer mode created controversy when it was revealed that players could play as the Taliban.[168] The developers responded by stating that the reality of the game necessitated it, but due to pressure from various military officials and veterans organizations, the word "Taliban" was subsequently removed from the multiplayer part of the game in which players would directly play as the Taliban, instead replaced with the term "Opposing Force." However, even in light of this change, the game is still not to be sold on military bases. The AAFES Commander Maj. Gen. Bruce Casella said, "Out of respect to those touched by the ongoing, real-life events presented as a game, Exchanges will not be carrying this product." He continued, "I expect the military families who are authorized to shop the Exchange are aware, and understanding, of the decision not to carry this particular offering."[169][170]
|
2010 |
Six Days in Fallujah |
PS3, Xbox 360, PC |
Atomic Games, Highwire Games |
A game to have been set during the Second Battle of Fallujah, Six Days was met with criticism by war veterans from the United Kingdom, as well as from a British pressure group, Stop the War Coalition.[171] The game was subsequently cancelled in 2010 by its original developers Atomic Games. In 2021, a new studio Highwire Games announced they were reviving the game, but had spoken to over 100 veterans of the battle to make sure it is an accurate depiction of the events.[172]
|
2010 (start of development) |
School Shooter: North American Tour 2012 |
PC |
Checkerboarded Studios |
An uncompleted mod for Half-Life 2 hosted by Mod DB, School Shooter was condemned in the mainstream media and within industry publications for making a violent video game where the protagonist is a school shooter who kills defenseless targets.[173][174][175] In response to the controversy, Mod DB pulled the game from its website.[176]
|
2011 |
Bulletstorm |
PS3, Xbox 360, PC |
Electronic Arts |
Fox News Channel called out the title as the "Worst Video Game in the World" due to the extreme amount of violence; claims made in the original article were dispelled by video game journalists, including Rock Paper Shotgun, but Fox News continues to assert that the game is too violent.[177]
|
2011 |
Portal 2 |
PS3, Xbox 360, PC |
Valve |
CBS News has deemed the game offensive to adopted children, because the character Wheatley insults the protagonist by saying "Fatty fatty no parents". The daughter of the parents who reported this is, in fact, adopted.[178]
|
2011 |
Call of Juarez: The Cartel |
PS3, Xbox 360, PC |
Ubisoft |
Residents of Ciudad Juárez and Mexico protested the announcement of the game, believing it to highlight the Juárez Cartel, who are believed to be responsible for over 3,000 homicides in the city in 2010.[179]
|
2011 |
We Dare |
PS3, Wii |
Ubisoft Milan |
The "adult party game" received a 12 rating by PEGI, and a PG rating by the ACB, implying that the game is suitable for children, despite Ubisoft intending it be played by adults and requesting an M rating from the ACB.[180] This drew criticism for both rating boards considering the questionable content in the trailer for the game. Consequently, Ubisoft shelved plans for a North American[181] and UK release (despite it eventually releasing in the UK), while also blocking the trailer from being viewed on YouTube.
|
2011 |
Dead Island |
PS3, Xbox 360, PC |
Deep Silver |
After a development build of the game was released on Steam by mistake, it was revealed that the skill 'Gender Wars' (which the character Purna uses) was called 'FeministWhorePurna' within the game's code. Developer Deep Silver apologised, and released a patch for the game to replace the offensive name.[182]
|
2011 (start of development) |
Star Citizen |
PC |
Cloud Imperium Games |
A crowdfunded game, Star Citizen has attracted criticism for the constant, frequent delays of the game's release deadlines, while continuing to raise additional funds,[183][184] with the developers facing legal actions from Derek Smart[185] and Crytek,[186] as well as taking similar legal actions against critics of the development and funding practices associated with the game.[187][188]
|
2012 |
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
PS3, Xbox 360, PC (Steam) |
Valve |
In 2016, the game came under fire on the grounds of several players using third-party betting through the use of skin gambling, wherein players sell in-game cosmetics for real currency. This led to concerns of potential underage players participating in "skin gambling", which may lead to future gambling addictions, as well as the potential of match fixing within the game's competitive scene (see iBUYPOWER and NetcodeGuides.com match fixing scandal). Valve has since ordered a cease and desist against many Counter-Strike gambling websites.[189][190] The game also was denounced by consumer rights' organization Facua, who asked that ETA symbology would be removed prior to the game's release, alleging sensibility and respect to the memory of the victims and their relatives.[191] The game allows to emulate terrorists denominated "Separatists", who are depicted wearing white hoods and black berets, such as the ones worn by ETA during their communicates.[192]
|
2012 |
Street Fighter X Tekken |
PS3, Xbox 360, PC, iOS, PlayStation Vita |
Capcom, Dimps |
It was revealed that the game's downloadable characters were already on the disc in a ready-to-unlock form, leading to heavy criticism.[193][194]
|
2012 |
Persona 4 Arena |
PS3, Xbox 360 |
Atlus, Arc System Works |
The PlayStation 3 version of the game includes a regional lockout, allowing the game to be played only if the game's region matches the console region, despite the fact that PlayStation 3 games are normally region-free, leading to a massive fan outrage.[195][196] The game's sequel, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax however, is region-free.[197]
|
2013 |
Payday 2 |
PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch |
Overkill Software |
Payday 2, while having featured a large array of downloadable content, had been claimed by its developers would never include microtransactions. However, a major game update released in October 2015 included rewards that required the player to use real-world money to purchase keys to unlock, and with rewards that may not be usable if the player did not buy certain pieces of downloadable content. Fans of the game reacted negatively to the change.[198] In May 2016, Overkill was able to acquire full rights to the Payday series, and among other announcements relating to the series, announced they would remove the microtransactions from Payday 2.[199]
|
2013 |
Tomb Raider |
PS3, Xbox 360, PC |
Crystal Dynamics |
During an interview with Kotaku, executive producer Ron Rosenberg stated that one scene in the game depicts Lara Croft about to be sexually assaulted by a scavenger. She is forced to fight back and kill him in self-defense. Prior to the game's release, this quickly led to controversy concerning the possible "attempted rape" sequence. Studio manager Darrell Gallagher later denied this, stating that one of "the character defining moments for Lara in the game, which has incorrectly been referred to as an 'attempted rape' scene is the content we showed", where "Lara is forced to kill another human for the first time. In this particular selection, while there is a threatening undertone in the sequence and surrounding drama, it never goes any further than the scenes that we have already shown publicly. Sexual assault of any kind is categorically not a theme that we cover in this game."[200][201]
|
2013 |
Saints Row IV |
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC |
Volition |
Despite changes in the Australian Classification Board to adopt rules to use the R18+ rating for video games in January 2013, Saints Row IV was the first video game under these new rules to be denied classification, due to the presence of drug use and an in-game alien anal probe weapon.[202] Volition eliminated these elements from the game to obtain a MA15+ rating by removing the mission these elements were used in,[203] thus rendering the game's co-operative mode incompatible with versions from other countries.[204]
|
2013 |
The Stanley Parable |
PC |
Galactic Cafe |
An in-game instructional video called "Choice" contained an image of a white man lighting a black child on fire.[205]
|
2014 |
South Park: The Stick of Truth |
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC |
Obsidian Entertainment, South Park Digital Studios |
The game was censored (by Ubisoft's decision) in Europe and Australia due to its depiction of an anal probing by aliens, and the player-character performing an abortion. In their place, the game displays either a still image of a statue holding its face in its hand, or a crying koala, with an explicit description of events depicted in the scene. The German version was specifically censored due to the use of Nazi- and Hitler-related imagery, including swastikas and Nazi salutes, which are prohibited under German law, outside of the context of "art or science, research or teaching".[206] The PC version remains completely uncut in Europe.[207]
|
2015 |
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number |
PC |
Dennaton Games |
The sequel, like the first Hotline Miami, incorporates a large amount of violence as the player sets to kill off agents of the local mafia, but a preview build for the sequel includes a scene that is set up wherein the player's character then appears to rape a female antagonist, though this is later presented in the context of being part of a staged movie scene. Journalists felt that even though the game made it clear of the scene's setup, the inclusion of this scene went too far in taste levels.[208] Despite some changes and assurances made by the developer, the scene in the game caused the Australian Classification Board to refuse to classify the game, effectively preventing legal sale of the title in that country.[209]
|
2015 |
Hatred |
PC |
Destructive Creations |
A game about a suicidal mass murderer, in which the primary mechanic is about shooting innocent civilians in the murderer's fit of rage. The CEO behind Hatred has been accused of having neo-Nazi and anti-Islamic affiliations, due to liking some pages on Facebook related to such beliefs.[210] The title has been highly controversial, and when the developers attempted to place it on the Steam Greenlight service, it was pulled by Valve due to the game's content; however, it has been brought back onto Greenlight by Gabe Newell, who apologized for the removal.[211] The game was rated "Adults Only" (AO) by the ESRB, which prevents retail sales and its release on consoles, and would likely prevent its sale on digital storefronts for personal computers.[212]
|
2015 |
Playing History 2 - Slave Trade |
PC |
Serious Games |
The game was created by Serious Games as an edutainment title to teach the user about slave trading. One game mode in the title was called "Slave Tetris", with the goal to try to fit as many African slaves on a boat as possible, using gameplay similar to Tetris; the developer had intended to show how inhumane the slave traders were, and how such trade boats were packed to capacity, stating "it really gets people to think about just how absurd and cruel it is". When the mode was discovered by a wider audience due to discounted sales of the game and Let's Play broadcasts of it, many critics expressed distaste for the mode, considering it to be highly insensitive. The developer pulled the mode from the game following this outrage.[213]
|
2015 |
Survival Island 3 |
iOS and Android |
NIL Entertainment |
A first-person action game in which the white player-character has to fight and kill Indigenous Australians while destroying Australian fauna. After a Change.org petition, the game was pulled from the App Store and Google Play.[214]
|
2015 |
Pakistan Army Retribution |
Android |
|
A first-person shooter game, based upon the 2014 Peshawar school massacre. Developed as part of the Peaceful Pakistan peace campaign, the game allowed the player to control a soldier during the attack and kill Taliban terrorists. After a negative review on the website of newspaper DAWN, calling the game to be of "poor taste",[215] other people also expressed criticism.[216] The game was subsequently pulled from the Google Play Store in January 2016.
|
2016 |
Overwatch |
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One |
Blizzard Entertainment |
A team-based multiplayer shooter which includes a number of unique characters, and matches concluded with the winning character doing one of several possible victory poses that can be selected by the player. Some players found that the victory pose for one character (a young woman named Tracer who is also shown on the game's cover art) was overtly sexual, and reduced the character to a "bland female sex symbol".[217] Blizzard removed the offending pose, replacing it with a pin-up model-inspired pose.[218]
|
2016 |
Street Fighter V |
PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows |
Capcom, Dimps |
An update for the PC version of the game released in September 2016 included a device driver named Capcom.sys, as a part of the game's anti-cheat measures, which was seen by players and security analysts as a rootkit. Capcom has since provided a rollback.[219] In 2017, an update which added M. Bison's classic Street Fighter II stage was taken down after fans noticed Islamic chants in what was actually a Buddhist temple.[220] A scene featuring the wrestler R. Mika slapping her butt as part of her Critical Art attack taunt was removed from the North American version of the game, as well as the entrance animation for Cammy. This caused debate in the community over whether or not the game was being censored.[221] Producer Yoshinori Ono clarified it was an internal decision to remove her taunt, and not due to response from the community."[222]
|
2016 |
Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear |
Microsoft Windows |
Beamdog |
Siege of Dragonspear is an expansion atop Beamdog's Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, itself a remastering of the original 1998 game, providing a narrative to explain events between Baldur's Gate and its sequel. Though the game was criticized by players on its release due to a number of software bugs, a controversy arose at what was perceived as a forced political agenda by the developers, in particular the inclusion of a transgender character.[223]
|
2016 |
Pokémon Go |
iOS, Android |
Niantic, Inc., Nintendo |
Pokémon Go gained significant controversy after the game allegedly inspired criminals to commit robberies using the augmented reality feature. CNN reported that the geolocation feature was used for robbers to find and capture victims.[224] There have been several deaths that occurred while playing the game, such as the death of a Japanese woman who was hit by a driver who was playing the game.[225] In 2017, Jiansheng Chen, a Chinese-American grandfather, was shot and killed by a security guard while playing the game.[226]
|
2016
|
No Man's Sky
|
Playstation 4, Microsoft Windows
|
Hello Games
|
No Man's Sky started significant controversy due to its state upon release and how this differed significantly with marketing statements made by the developers. Both critics and fans cited the many bugs and game-breaking glitches present alongside missing content and features not implemented despite marketing material mentioning or claiming those features would be available at launch.[227]
|
2016
|
Persona 5
|
PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4
|
Atlus
|
Within the game's dialog includes scenes between Ryuji, a high school student, and two other effeminate men. Many fans of the series and critics commented poorly on these scenes as the characters were a stereotypical presentation of overly-sexualized gay men, and appeared to be inappropriate attempts at creating a sexual relationship between them and Ryuji as a minor.[228] Due to these complaints, Atlus announced for release of the expanded content in Persona 5 Royal, released in Japan in 2019 and in Western regions in 2020, that they would alter these scenes with updated lines "for the current generation".[229]
|
2017
|
Fight of Gods
|
Microsoft Windows
|
PQube
|
Fight of Gods was designed as a satirical fighting game between various religious and mythical gods or godlike figures. In September 2017, after Jesus was added as a playable character, the government of Malaysia considered the game "blasphemous", demanded Valve remove the game from Steam, and had its ISPs temporarily block the country's access to Steam. Valve eventually blocked sales of the game in Malaysia, allowing the service to be restored in the country.[230][231]
|
2017
|
Star Wars Battlefront II
|
Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
|
Electronic Arts
|
In November 2017, the game received unfavorable critical attention when its loot box monetization scheme during its open beta period was revealed, which many felt was a "pay-to-win" scheme, since some loot box rewards directly influenced multiplayer gameplay. Electronic Arts revisited the loot box approach prior to launch to address those concerns.[232] Just before the game's full launch, it was revealed that many of the playable heroes in the game would be locked until the player had earned enough in-game credits over time, or spent money on microtransactions to unlock them faster, further raising player criticism. Electronic Arts attempted to justify the change on the game's subforum at Reddit, but it was met with outrage, making that comment the most down-voted Reddit post of all time.[233] Hours before the game's release, EA temporarily disabled all microtransactions for the game to review concerns by players, and to rework the in-currency systems after launch.[234]
|
2018
|
Standoff
|
Microsoft Windows
|
Revived Games
|
Originally titled Active Shooter, the game was developed by Revived Games, and was published by Acid Games in June 2018 on Steam. The game presented a first-person shooter based on a fictional school shooting scenario, with the game's description stating that the player can choose to be the SWAT team member to take down the suspects, or the students firing on the school. The game, which appeared on Steam shortly following the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February 2018, came under criticism from students, parents, and politicians, directing concern towards the developers, publisher, and Valve for trying to profit off an emotional distressing situation.[235] Before the game could be released, Valve pulled the game and the developer from Steam, citing prior issues with "asset reuse" games by the developer and manipulation of Steam reviews.[236]
|
2018
|
Agony
|
PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
|
Madmind Studio
|
A dark fantasy survival horror video game that puts players into the perspective of a tormented soul within the depths of Hell, devoid of any memories whatsoever about its past. The special ability to control people on their path, and possess weak-minded demons, gives players the necessary measures to survive in the extreme conditions they are in.[237] Agony is infamous for being one of only four games to have received the "Adults Only" rating from ESRB due to violence and other extreme graphic content (including gay and lesbian sex scenes and genital physics), following The Punisher, Manhunt 2, and Hatred. The game was re-rated "Mature" after the developers agreed to tone down the violence, which also led to PEGI rating the game 18. A planned "Adults Only" unrated patch for PC was later dropped due to "legal issues".[238] However, on June 6, 2018, the developers said they were "talking with Steam representatives" about offering Agony Unrated as "a separate title produced and published by Madmind Studio and without the involvement of any publishers." For those who already own the original game, this version will be either free DLC or a separate purchase at 99% off, which currently is the highest possible discount on Steam's platform.[239] After announcing the financial problems of the company and canceling the Unrated version of the game, the basic game docked on August 1, 2018, with a considerable amount of updates on the platforms on which it debuted.[240]
|
2018
|
Bolsomito 2K18
|
PC
|
BS Studios
|
Bolsomito 2K18, a brawler game where the player fights "the evils of communism", and "the growing corruption and inversion of values that plagues [sic] his society", according to its description, while in-game, this is represented as attacking women, minorities, and LGBTQ persons. The game was released on Steam two days prior to the October 2018 Brazilian general election, where one of the candidates in the election was Jair Bolsonaro, thus inspiring the game's name. Bolsonaro was considered a far-right candidate in the election, and led after the first round of voting. The Brazilian Public Ministry of the Federal District and Territories has opened an investigation on both Valve and BS Studios, stating that the game and its close release to the elections "clearly intends to harm [the] Presidency of the Republic and thereby embarrass the 2018 elections", and "cause collective moral damages to the movements social, gays and feminists".[241][242]
|
2018
|
Assassin's Creed Odyssey
|
PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Stadia
|
Ubisoft
|
The main storyline in Assassin's Creed Odyssey features the ability to select one of two playable characters, the male Alexios or the female Kassandra, and gave players the ability to interact with non-player characters in various romance options, including gay relationships; this feature was stressed by Ubisoft in its promotional material for the game, given that they did not want to force the player into any specific relationship. In the finale of the game's downloadable content, Legacy of the First Blade, the player character is shown to have settled down after the main story and raised a child with a spouse of the opposite gender. This annoyed players who had chosen to role-play their character as gay in the original game. Ubisoft apologized, stating that they wanted to show how the character's bloodline continued into future generations of Assassins, but agreed to change the story.[243] Ubisoft released an update in February 2019 that alters the end scenes, to show that those who opted to play their character as gay will enter into a non-romantic relationship with a spouse for the purpose of continuing the bloodline, retaining the romantic choices the player otherwise made before, as well as changing the achievement name for reaching this point from "Growing up" to "Blood of Leonidas" to avoid implications made by the former.[244][245]
|
2019
|
Devotion
|
PC
|
Red Candle
|
The Taiwanese horror game Devotion drew backlash from Chinese players after two Easter eggs were discovered that mocked Chinese paramount leader Xi Jinping, who is also the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. The first Easter egg consisted of a poster with text written on it referring to the president as a "Winnie-the-Pooh moron"; the children's literature character had previously been blocked online by the Chinese government for being heavily featured in Internet memes comparing him to Xi. The second Easter egg consisted of a newspaper describing the incarceration of an individual under the alias "Steamed Bun," a euphemism for Xi used by his critics to evade federal censorship. Following a review bombing campaign, developer Red Candle apologized for the Easter eggs' inclusion and stated that they would refund offended players. Reports from Chinese social media users also claimed that the game was pulled from Steam as a result of the controversy.[246][247] In December 2020, Red Candle had worked with GOG.com to bring the game back through that service, but GOG.com opted not to sell the game, stating it had received "many messages from gamers" criticizing them for doing so.[248] Red Candle Games opened their own digital storefront by March 2021 to sell Devotion and other games.[249]
|
2019
|
Rape Day
|
PC
|
Desk Plant
|
Rape Day was listed as an upcoming title on Steam around early March 2019; according to its description, Rape Day was a "dark comedy and power fantasy" visual novel that allowed the player to "[control] the choices of a menacing serial killer rapist during a zombie apocalypse." The game's store page included numerous warnings related to the content, including "violence, sexual assault, non-consensual sex, obscene language, necrophilia, incest, and the death of a baby". Many journalists quickly expressed concern about the game's content, based on the description and troubling screenshots and how it appeared to glorify rape, and opined that the game would be a type of litmus test of Valve's recently-developed hands-off policy in terms of Steam storefront curation, believing Valve should block the game. By March 6, 2019, Valve had issued a statement that it will not allow the game to be published on Steam, and removed its upcoming store page. In the company's statement, Valve said, "We respect developers' desire to express themselves, and the purpose of Steam is to help developers find an audience, but this developer has chosen content matter and a way of representing it that makes it very difficult for us to help them do that."[250][251]
|
2019
|
Ion Fury
|
PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch
|
Voidpoint
|
Initially titled Ion Maiden, Ion Fury was forced to change its title when the game's publisher was challenged with a trademark infringement lawsuit by the band Iron Maiden. After release, players found language within the game that was considered by some to be homophobic: a bottle of lotion labeled "Ogay" (parodying the brand Olay) and an inaccessible room containing the word "fagbag", allegedly a spoof on the title of the Duke Nukem theme song. Additionally, players on the game's Discord server found that some of the developers had previously used language that is insensitive to transgender causes. Developer Voidpoint and publisher 3D Realms apologized for the poor language, and vowed to donate US$10,000 to The Trevor Project, as well as patch out the offensive content. A week later, facing backlash from confused players who thought the entire game was to be censored, Voidpoint and 3D Realms clarified that they were not censoring content intended to be included in the game, and were merely removing the offensive word found within the inaccessible area, though still stressing that the behavior on Discord was unacceptable.[252]
|
2019
|
NBA 2K20
|
PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Stadia
|
2K Games
|
Prior to the game's own release, NBA 2K20 received severe backlash for microtransactions components being advertised in a trailer which has blatant similarities to a casino. The heavy focus on these components in conjunction with the option to spend real-world currency on it has also caused many to criticize both PEGI and the ESRB for giving the game each organization's lowest possible age rating despite both boards claiming that gambling content, simulated or not, would warrant a significantly higher age rating.[253]
|