European game rating agency PEGI stands by its 12+ classification of Ubisoft’s We Dare, saying it’s not nearly as sexy as the publisher makes it out to be.
We Dare looked like pretty racy stuff when the first ad for Ubisoft’s “sexy Wii minigame compilation” debuted back in February, so it was a little bit baffling when PEGI slapped a 12+ rating on it. Parents and Parliamentarians alike were angry and upset over the prospect of young children legally buying and playing a dirty sex game and called for the release to be held up while the matter was more thoroughly investigated. But PEGI isn’t budging on its decision.
“PEGI does not take into account the context of a game when rating it, we only look at the contents of the game,” the agency told Cubed3. “[We Dare] has been rated as a PEGI 12 because it contains mild swearing, minor assault on a human-like character and words/activities that amount to obvious sexual innuendo, explicit sexual descriptions or images and sexual posturing.”
A PEGI rep said a higher rating was considered because of a “specific [sexual] atmosphere” but was rejected by the Video Standards Council, an independent organization that verifies the ratings. “This means that the game itself is in fact less sexual/offensive than the marketing campaign leads us to believe,” the rep said. “For example, you cannot see real spanking in the game. There is a ‘stripping game’ but you don’t have to undress; throwing away keys or anything that reduces your weight is good enough.”
Nonetheless, Ubisoft continues to promote the game as solely adult fare and will include its own “Parental Discretion Advised” sticker on the packaging, while tabloid news sites in the U.K. are having a field day with the situation. The Sun reported that one version of the infamous YouTube trailer ends with the couples swapping partners and going off to have sex, while another has all four of them “romping together.”
Barring unforeseen legislative delays, We Dare is expected to come out later this month in Europe and the U.K. Ubisoft has “emphatically” ruled out a North American release.
