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Sony PlayStation bans "rapey" game that encourages men to grope women
PlayStation bosses have blocked a “rapey” new game built to teach young men psychological tricks on how to bed women.
Super Seducer was due to be released on the PS4 on Tuesday earlier this week.
But Sony decided to ban the title after critics blasted the makers for designing a “sleazy” game promoting “toxic behaviours and attitudes”.
Sony has limited itself to saying it "will not be made available", but the BBC confirmed the Japanese company actually axed the title from sale.
Kickstarter had previously suspended the game's crowdfunding campaign amid growing concerns it was trying to help impressionable lads to trick their way into women’s hearts.
Super Seducer does not feature nudity, but does show women in their underwear sitting next to its British creator, Richard La Ruina, as he delivers “advice”.
Live-action sequences show the author "grabbing" parts of a date's body and attempting to kiss a woman he has just met to illustrate actions the player should avoid.
His suggested techniques involve discussing immigration and trying to change a woman's beliefs.
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The Motherboard news site was among the first to notice that the PlayStation version hadn’t been released.
Seth Barton, of trade site MCV, said: "Without further details from Sony, we can't tell if the game has been removed as a moral decision or whether it was down to the quality of the title – though it has published some pretty ropey games in the past.
"While it's an unappealing title, I'm uncertain whether PS4 owners would be happy with Sony censoring the games they can play, especially as they can't go elsewhere to buy software."
The title's marketing campaign bills it as "highly controversial", but Mr La Ruina said he had been surprised by the scale of the backlash.
"I did expect a small segment of the population to take issue with it, just like they might with anything related to dating skills for men," he said.
"[It] has received a lot of negative coverage from people who have never played the game.
"They want to brand it sleazy, sexist, misogynistic, and even 'rapey'. I found it all very aggressive and not at all helpful."
But one games reviewer welcomed Sony's intervention, despite the game still being available on PC.
"It's not good to sell a product that pushes the idea that women are things that you can press the right buttons to win," said Ellen Rose, from Outside Xtra.
"Ultimately it's up to each platform to decide which games they want to sell.
"I don't know whether Steam will be as active – but because of the subject matter, it should at least make it as difficult as possible for under-18s to get."
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Level Up, a new UK-based feminist organisation, has also launched a campaign calling on retailer Steam to take down the “Super Seducer” video game.
Carys Afoko, Executive Director of Level Up, labelled the game “toxic,” said:
“Super Seducer is offering men a masterclass in sexual harassment, not seduction.
“This toxic game is training up the next generation of Harvey Weinsteins. Steam needs to follow PlayStation’s lead and take it down.
“Steam should not be selling lessons in how to harass women. The company has withdrawn games before for encouraging violence, and it’s time they took a similar stand on violence against women.”
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