Namco Bandai has confirmed to Kotaku that The Witcher 2 has been modified for Australian release under an MA15+ rating. The change comes after the Classification Board refused to give an MA15+ classification due to ‘sex as a reward’ appearing in one particular side quest.
According to Namco Bandai’s local team:
In the original version your character Geralt was given the choice of accepting sex ‘as a reward’ for successfully completing this particular side quest. The Australian Classification Board originally refused classification as they deemed the inclusion of ‘sex as a reward’ as not suitable for an MA15+ classification.
The change is only minor, in that the character choice is now made automatically for him. The character and the side quest are still in the game but presented in a slightly different context. No other changes have been made and this change has no impact on gameplay, storyline or character development.
A minor change that seems to ultimately hit that perennial question of ‘interactivity’ as a critical issue for game content. You can’t choose sex as a reward, but if the game removes the choice from you without necessarily removing the content it becomes acceptable. Hmmm…
UPDATE: We’ve tried to clarify with Namco Bandai and it does seem that, in this side quest, the offer of sex is rejected automatically. Given all we know of The Witcher 2 it seems there will still be plenty of sexy time for Geralt, just not in the specific context of ‘sex as a reward’.
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