List of controversial video games

This is a list of video games described explicitly as "controversial" in secondary sources. Some of the video games on this list have been banned or censored.

Table of controversial games

This video game–related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Release date	Title	Platform	Developer	Reason(s)
1973	Gotcha	Arcade	Atari	Controversial due to the controls being perceived as pink rubber bulges that were meant to represent breasts and were squeezed in order to control the action.
1976	Death Race	Arcade	Exidy	Violence (running over stickmen "gremlins", who then scream).
1982	Custer's Revenge	Atari 2600	Mystique	The game depicts a crudely rendered General Custer dodging arrows to reach a naked, native American woman tied to a pole. For surviving, he was allowed to have sex with her, and points for doing so. This quickly lead to controversy regarding whether he was raping her, or if she participated willingly.
1984-2009	Punch-Out!!	Arcades, NES, SNES, Wii	Nintendo, Next Level Games (2009 version)	Numerous instances of racial stereotyping, mainly of the opponent fighters that the players fight against.
1985	International Karate	Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Commodore 16, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum	System 3	Main article: Data East USA, Inc. v. Epyx, Inc. Data East USA sued Epyx, the publisher of the game in the United States (under the name of World Karate Championship) due to similarities between International Karate and Data East's Karate Champ. Although the suit was dismissed, Data East did obtain an injunction to prevent further sales of World Karate Championship, which was subsequently appealed and reversed.
1986	177	NEC PC-8801	dB-soft	A bishoujo game revolving around rape, it ignited a public furor that reached the National Diet of Japan.
1987	Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior	Acorn Electron, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum	Palace Software	The cover art of the game, which featured bikini-clad Maria Whittaker, a model who was then associated with The Sun tabloid's Page Three topless photo shoots and Michael Van Wijk, who was only wearing a loincloth, provoked outrage in the United Kingdom. Electron User magazine received letters from readers and religious bodies, who called the image "offensive and particularly insulting to women" and an "ugly pornographic advertisement". Barbarian's violent content was also controversial and was banned in Germany by the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien because of it.
1987	Super Monaco GP	Arcade, Mega Drive/Genesis, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Gear, Sega Master System, ZX Spectrum	Sega	Phillip Morris sued Sega (and some other video game companies, including Namco and Atari Games on behalf of their Final Lap game) because the arcade version of the game contains advertisements that resemble those for Marlboro cigarettes.
1987-present	Leisure Suit Larry Series	PC, PS2, Xbox, PS3, Xbox 360	Sierra Entertainment	Controversial for its obscenities and mature humor. Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude was released on PC both censored and uncensored in the United States and was banned in Australia.
1988 - 2010	Splatterhouse series	Arcade, Famicom, TurboGrafx-16, Sega Genesis	Namco	Blood and gore, violence, and some questionable enemies. Critics described the game as "massive disappointment" and "violent, excessively gory brawler".
1991	J.B. Harold Murder Club	TurboGrafx-16	NEC	Sexual themes, including reference to an unsolved rape.
1992	Wolfenstein 3D	DOS	id Software	Violence, gore, Nazi symbolism, and the inclusion of Adolf Hitler as the final boss.
1992–present	Mortal Kombat series	Arcade	Midway (later Warner Bros. Interactive)	Blood, violence and gore. First fighter to introduce "Fatalities" to finish off opponents. When released for home console formats became the first 'big budget' game to raise the issue of violence in the medium. Possible catalyst to the implementation of a rating system.
1992	Night Trap	Sega CD	Digital Pictures	Violence, child abuse and sexual themes.
1993	Fighter's History	Arcade, SNES	Data East	Capcom sued Data East in the United States and Japan on grounds of copyright infringements pertaining to Street Fighter II property. The US case were ruled in favor of Data East (which argued Karate Champ was the true originator of the competitive fighting game genre), as the "copied" elements were excluded from copyright, similar to Apple's graphical user interface lawsuit against Microsoft.
1993	Doom	PC	id Software	Intense, first-person violence, gore, and satanic themes. Was once blamed for the Columbine High School massacre.
1995	Hong Kong 97	Super Famicom	Happysoft Ltd.	A shooter that is both anti-communist and promotes Maoism, and the game is infamously known for having a picture of an actual dead body as the game over screen.
1996-present	Pokémon series	Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS	Nintendo, Game Freak	Jynx, one of the series's titular creatures, came under heavy backlash following a 2000 article by Carole Boston Weatherford that accused its design of perpetrating blackface imagery. The resulting controversy forced a drastic redesign of Jynx, changing its skin from black to purple and shrinking its eyes & mouth. The series was also attacked by fundamentalist Christian groups, who argued that it promoted Satanic themes. In response, the Vatican broadcast its public approval of Pokémon in April 2001, claiming that the game was based on "intense ties of friendship" and lacked "any harmful moral side effects."
1996	SimCopter	PC	Maxis	A programmer named Jacques Servin introduced unauthorized "himbo" characters into the game, who would appear on certain dates and kiss.
1996	Duke Nukem 3D	PC, Sega Saturn, PS1	3D Realms	Violence, sexual themes, nudity.
1996	Tomb Raider	PC, Sega Saturn, PS1	Eidos	An unauthorized software patch nicknamed 'Nude Raider' was created by fans which allowed players to play as a nude version of Lara Croft (complete with graphic nudity).
1997	Shadow Warrior	PC, Mac, iOS	3D Realms	Controversial for "insensitive" and "inauthentic" depictions of East Asian society and culture, although 3D Realms responded, saying that they did not intend to make a racist game but had deliberately used a melange of Asian culture in order to create a "fun game" which "didn't take itself too seriously" and parodied "bad kung fu movies". Despite their response, such criticism had continued.
1997	Carmageddon	PC, Mac, N64, PS1	SCi, Interplay Entertainment	Violence against pedestrians and animals.
1997	Postal	PC	Running with Scissors	Violence and anti-law, most of which is committed against civilians and authorities.
1997–present	Grand Theft Auto series	PC, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One	Rockstar Games	See also: Controversies surrounding Grand Theft Auto IV, Controversies surrounding Grand Theft Auto V, and Hot Coffee mod Sexual themes, drug use, racism, nudity, language, drunk driving, violence (against civilians and law enforcement officers; in Grand Theft Auto 3, there is also a cheat called 'Extra Gore Mode' in which, if you shoot at someone you can blow off their limbs), criminal behavior. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was originally rated "Mature" in the US, but was re-rated "Adults Only" after controversy surrounding a fanmade Hot Coffee mod which unlocked a hidden sex scene (which was in the game's code, but left out of the final version). It was re-rated "Mature" after Rockstar Games removed this scene from the game's code. In Grand Theft Auto V, one mission sees the character Trevor Phillips torturing another character in several different ways, including waterboarding, pulling out teeth and administering electrical shocks to the nipples.
1997	Formula 1 97	PC, PS1	Psygnosis	The game was withdrawn from shops six weeks after its release due to legal wranglings with the FIA (Formula One's governing body) objecting to the use of the FIA logo on the game's packaging. It was re-released without the offending logo, but the FIA were still unhappy. However, the FIA lost a court case, and the game continued to be sold without the logo.
1998	Thrill Kill	PS1	Paradox Development	Thrill Kill is a cancelled and unpublished 1998 fighting video game for the Sony PlayStation. While the technical feat of allowing four players to fight simultaneously in the same room was to be a major selling point, this was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the game's depictions of violence and sexual content.
1999	Kingpin: Life of Crime	PC	Interplay Entertainment	Violence.
2000	Daikatana	PC	Ion Storm	A highly controversial advertisement regarding John Romero's involvement with the game, which caused a highly publicized outrage.
2001	Conker's Bad Fur Day	N64	Rare	Controversial for its "over the top" and "lewd" humor.
2002	Shadow Man: 2econd Coming	PlayStation 2	Akklaim	An attempt to promote this video game involved placing advertisements on deceased people's gravestones.
2002	Ethnic Cleansing	PC	Resistance Records	Racially-motivated violence, white supremacist themes.
2002	Kaboom!	Browser	fabolous999	Players control a suicide bomber, the aim of the game being to kill as many people as possible.
2002	State of Emergency	PC, PS2, Xbox	Rockstar Games	Contains Columbine-style violence, including political assassinations and coup d'états. Additionally, the game caused controversy in Washington due to the game's similarities to the World Trade Organization riots in Seattle.
2003	Postal 2	PC	Running with Scissors	Violence against pedestrians and police officers, racism, sexual themes, drug use, language, and animal cruelty. Banned in New Zealand, Sweden and Australia.
2003, 2007	Manhunt and Manhunt 2	PS2, Wii, PC	Rockstar Games	Violence and gore. Manhunt gained significant controversy after it was alleged that the game inspired a teenager to commit a murder. Banned in Australia. Manhunt 2 has been labeled as possibly the most violent video game ever made and is infamous for being one of only three video games to receive an "Adults-Only rating" due to violence, the other two being The Punisher and Hatred. Further controversy surrounds the Wii version due to the fact that it actually simulates the violence through motion control, dubbing it the name "murder simulator".
2003	Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball	Xbox	Tecmo	Many critics have commented that the game's shameless use of female bodies is often ridiculous at best, and some have found it downright offensive.
2003	Whiplash	PlayStation 2, Xbox	Crystal Dynamics	The game had some controversy over the animal cruelty, mainly by the RSPCA.
2004	The Sims 2	PC	EA Games	A player-made mod allowed for the blur effect that appears when a character is nude to be removed. However, the nude Sims are featureless.
2004	JFK: Reloaded	PC	Traffic Software	Puts the player in the role of Lee Harvey Oswald as he assassinates U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Criticized for its controversial content matter in recreating the assassination and was condemned by a spokesman for Senator Ted Kennedy as "despicable".
2005	Super Columbine Massacre RPG!	PC	Danny Ledonne	The game simulates the events of the Columbine High School massacre, having the player take on the roles of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and acting out the massacre.
2005	Gun	PC, PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Xbox 360	Activision	The game's offensive depictions of American Indians prompted the Association for American Indian Development to call a boycott against the game.
2005	The Punisher	PC, PS2, Xbox	Volition Inc.	Interrogation, torture, intense gun fights, drugs, and killing with no mercy. Originally merited an "Adults-Only" rating before being edited on appeal.
2006	Bully	PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, Wii	Rockstar Games	Violence, bullying and sex (notably bisexual themes) in a school setting.
2006	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	Xbox 360, PC, PS3	Bethesda Softworks	Main article: ESRB re-rating of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Re-rated by the ESRB after a third-party mod revealed a nude topless graphic hidden in the game's data files. While the graphic did not warrant a re-rating of the game in and of itself, upon review, the ESRB noted that the game contained much more explicit violence than had been submitted to them in the original rating submission.
2006	Hitman: Blood Money	PC, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3	IO Interactive	Violence and assassinations; magazine ads for the game featured pictures depicting murder victims.
2006	Mind Quiz	Nintendo DS, PSP	Ubisoft	Recalled in the United Kingdom due to use of the word "spastic", which is considered highly offensive in the UK.
2006	Left Behind: Eternal Forces	PC	Left Behind Games	Accusations that the game promoted religious "convert or kill" violence, sexism and racism. Some reviewers denied that the game contained any truly controversial gameplay.
2006	Resistance: Fall of Man	PS3	Insomniac Games	Main article: Controversy over the use of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man The Church of England objected to the game's use of Manchester Cathedral's interior as a backdrop during a gun battle, and called for the game to be withdrawn or for the cathedral to be removed from the game.
2006	RapeLay	PC	Illusion Soft	Rape is a core part of the gameplay, as the player takes on the role of a chikan who stalks, and subsequently rapes a mother and her two daughters, at least one of whom is underage. Three years after its initial release, significant controversy was raised in the UK Parliament and elsewhere, and Equality Now eventually pressured its distributor to withdraw distribution of it in Japan.
2006	Rule of Rose	PS2	Punchline	The mayor of Rome called for the game to be banned from Italy, saying children "have the right to be shielded from violence". The then European Union justice and security commissioner wrote an open letter condemning the game for "obscene cruelty and brutality". An Italian magazine, Panorama, claimed that in order to win the game players must bury a girl alive, which the game's European publisher disputed. On the UK release day, the publisher announced that Rule of Rose would not be published in the UK, despite the game being approved for release by the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) and Video Standards Council regulatory bodies.
2007	BioShock	Xbox 360, PC , PS3	2K Games	An article in The Patriot Ledger, the local paper of developer Irrational Games, argued that the game is "testing the limits of the ultraviolent gaming genre with a strategy that enables players to kill characters resembling young girls." The game presents an ethical choice to players, whether to kill 'Little Sisters' for extra abilities or save them and receive less. President of 2K Boston Ken Levine defended the game as a piece of art, stating "we want to deal with challenging moral issues and if you want to do that, you have to go to some dark places". Jack Thompson took issue with advertisements for the game appearing during WWE SmackDown's airtime, writing to the Federal Trade Commission and stating that M-rated games should not be advertised when large numbers of under-17s are watching.
2007	Mass Effect	PS3, Xbox 360, PC	BioWare	Falsely accused by evangelical blogger Kevin McCullough of containing "rape and sodomy", which later led to the removal of McCullough's blog entry on Townhall.com. The game was featured on the Fox News Channel following the controversy, with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, which included the headline "full graphic sex". In actuality, the game's most explicit content is an indirect "sideboob" shot of a humanoid alien breast.
2007	Mario Party 8	Wii	Nintendo	Use of the phrase "Turn the train spastic! Make this ticket tragic!" by the character Kamek caused controversy in the United Kingdom, where the word spastic is considered offensive. This led to a recall of the game; it was later re-released with the word changed to erratic.
2008	Muslim Massacre	PC	Eric 'Sigvatr' Vaughn	The game's contents and subject have been the subject of strong negative response; a spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain said "The makers of this 'game' and the ISPs [Internet service providers] who are hosting it should be quite ashamed of themselves. Anti-Muslim prejudice is already on the increase and needs to be challenged and not reinforced through tasteless and offensive stunts like this."
2008	Invaders!		Douglas Edric Stanley	An art game exhibited at the 2008 Games Convention in Leipzig. It represents the September 11 attacks in the style of Space Invaders. Players move their bodies to move the cannon and use arm movements to fire. Like the original Space Invaders, death (game over) is inevitable. Many people considered it tasteless and inappropriate, and Taito threatened legal action for unauthorized use of Space Invaders content. The creator later pulled the game.
2008	Silent Hill: Homecoming	PS3, PC, Xbox 360	Double Helix Games	Was banned and refused to get a rating in Australia and Germany for extreme violence and disturbing images which included copious blood spray in the game, decapitations, partially dismembered corpses, and numerous scenes of attacks, fights, torture, and death."
2008	LittleBigPlanet	PS3	Media Molecule	Lyrics from a licensed song, "Tapha Niang", were removed due to fears that Muslims would be offended as it allegedly contained words from the Quran. This led to controversy about the removal itself.
2008	Too Human	Xbox 360	Silicon Knights	The game was revealed to developed using a stolen version of Unreal Engine 3, following a successful counter-suit by Epic Games (makers of the Unreal Engine), Silicon Knights having initially sued Epic Games for "breach of contract". In November 2012, the counter-suit were ruled in favor of Epic Games, forcing Silicon Knights to recall and destroy all copies of the game and another Unreal Engine-developed game, X-Men: Destiny, as well as cancelling other titles that had been planned to use the engine.
2009	MadWorld	Wii	Platinum Games	The game's extreme, over-the-top violence has led to much criticism, and has been described by the Daily Mail as the "most violent video game ever". Also, the Nintendo Wii has been long-perceived as little more than a "family-friendly" console, and as a result, many parental organizations have condemned the game's release exclusively on the Wii.
2009	Resident Evil 5	PS3, Xbox 360, PC	Capcom	For a pre-release trailer that contains scenes of racism, according to Newsweek journalist N'Gai Croal in an April 2008 interview. He also stated that organizations and retailers would object to the game and that it would cause controversy on release.
2009	Saw	PS3, Xbox 360, PC	Konami	Several news publishings stated that the game's only purpose was to torture and kill people in violent ways with no sense of restraint or morality. Some editorials called it "depraved and inhumane" and stated that "Konami should be ashamed". It was also listed in the "Top ten most controversial games of 2009".
2009	Left 4 Dead 2	Xbox 360, PC (Steam)	Valve Corporation	The cover art in the UK had to be altered due to a potentially offensive hand gesture being depicted. The game was banned in Australia for its excessive violence and gore, but later the uncensored version was rated. The game's New Orleans setting so soon after Hurricane Katrina was considered "a bad call".
2009	Fat Princess	PlayStation 3 PlayStation Portable	Titan Studios	Feminists argued that the game concept and title was hostile to women.
2009	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2	PS3, Xbox 360, PC,	Infinity Ward	Main article: Controversies surrounding Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 A optional level in the game entitled "No Russian" has the player assume control of a deep cover Central Intelligence Agency agent, joining a group of Russian nationalist terrorists in enacting an airport massacre. The player is given the option to skip the level at any point. The game was discussed briefly in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom after the issue was brought to the attention of MP Keith Vaz, a longtime opponent of violence in video games, with fellow Labour Party politician Tom Watson arguing that the level was "no worse than scenes in many films and books" and criticising Vaz for "collaborating with the Daily Mail to create moral panic over the use of video games". The mission was made optional before release and removed from the game entirely. Activision later removed the Favela multiplayer map from Modern Warfare 2 following complaints from Muslim gamers, which shows picture frames on the second floor bathroom of one building within Favela. When viewed through a scoped weapon, the frames contain a quote from Muhammad that translates to "Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty", according to Islam Today. One of the paintings is located directly above a toilet.
2010	Medal of Honor	PS3, Xbox 360, PC	Danger Close Games, EA Digital Illusions CE	The multiplayer mode created controversy when it was revealed that players could play as the Taliban. The developers responded by stating the reality of the game necessitated it, but due to pressure from various military officials and veterans organizations, the word Taliban was 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."
2010	Six Days in Fallujah	PS3, Xbox 360, PC	Atomic Games	The game was opposed by both the public and critics alike for "glamorizing" and "glossing over" the real-life Second Battle of Fallujah. This caused the former publisher, Konami, to stop publishing it.
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 the game as too violent.
2011	Portal 2	PS3, Xbox 360, PC	Valve Corporation	CBS News has deemed the game offensive to adopted children because Wheatley insults the protagonist by saying "Fatty fatty no parents". The daughter of the parents who reported this is in fact, adopted.
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 responsible for over 3000 homicides in the city in 2010.
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.
2012	Medal of Honor: Warfighter	PS3, Xbox 360, PC	Danger Close Games	Seven members of Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU) who worked as consultants for the game were disciplined for releasing classified information to the game's creators.
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.
2013	Payday 2	PS4, Xbox One, PC	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.
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 return. 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."
2013	Saints Row IV	Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC	Volition Inc.	Despite changes in the Australian Classification Board to adopt rules to classify mature 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. Volition eliminated these elements from the game to obtain a MA15+ rating by removing the mission these elements were used in, rendering the game's co-operative mode incompatible with versions from other countries.
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.
2014	South Park: The Stick of Truth	Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC	Obsidian Entertainment South Park Digital Studios	The game was censored 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 a still image of a statue holding its face in its hand, with an explicit description of events depicted in the scene. The German version was specifically censored because of the use of Nazi- and Hitler-related imagery, including swastikas and Nazi salutes, which are illegal in that country.
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 where 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. 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.
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, anti-Islamic affiliations due to liking some pages on Facebook related to such beliefs. 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, and later apologized for the removal. 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.
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, 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.

References

• Slow news day leads to Portal 2 adoption “controversy”

External links

• Sexual Moments in Video Game History from I-Mockery
• "The Top 7... Controversies Waiting to Happen: Sex! Murder! Godless blasphemy and animal abuse! How could the media possibly miss these button-pushing games?," GamesRadar.com (Sept 4, 2007).
• "The Top 7... Most Evil Games: See the most racist, hateful and tasteless titles you wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole," GamesRadar.com (Dec 17, 2007).