German ESRB not rating Crackdown, which means…

Geez, you think that by turning the GTA formula on its head so you play the good guy, and not the bad guy, you’d win some sort of reprieve. Uh-uh: the German equivalent of the ESRB, USK, refused to give RealTime Worlds‘ Crackdown an appropriate age rating, which in USK translates to “effective ban”. You know how it works there: no rating, no display in store shelves, no go, no deal, no dice, no game.

Here’s exactly what they said (as weblated) on their website: no marking in accordance with § 14 JuSchG. Why? We can easily guess the reason for this: too violent (maybe it’s the “excessive use of force in law enforcement” bit…).

With the USK cracking down on Crackdown, will RealTime Worlds and Microsoft appeal? Will they water down the game? Or will the game go underground, and be passed around concealed in loaves of bread, and sold in deserted alleyways?

Geez, you think that by turning the GTA formula on its head so you play the good guy, and not the bad guy, you’d win some sort of reprieve. Uh-uh: the German equivalent of the ESRB, USK, refused to give RealTime Worlds‘ Crackdown an appropriate age rating, which in USK translates to “effective ban”. You know how it works there: no rating, no display in store shelves, no go, no deal, no dice, no game.

Here’s exactly what they said (as weblated) on their website: no marking in accordance with § 14 JuSchG. Why? We can easily guess the reason for this: too violent (maybe it’s the “excessive use of force in law enforcement” bit…).

With the USK cracking down on Crackdown, will RealTime Worlds and Microsoft appeal? Will they water down the game? Or will the game go underground, and be passed around concealed in loaves of bread, and sold in deserted alleyways?