Warehouse bans R18 games and DVDs
Grand Theft Auto V sparks ban.
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LATEST: R18 ban - Warehouse says brand more important than extra profit
The Warehouse Group [NZX:WHS] will take R18 games and DVDs off its shelves because of the contents of the newly re-released Grand Theft Auto V.
“The recently released Grand Theft Auto V, which contains graphic sex scenes and violence toward women from a first person perspective, has acted as a catalyst for our decision to totally exit the R18 games and DVD market,” Warehouse Group chief executive Mark Powell says.
He says the decision was “not made lightly” but was driven by customer, community and team member feedback.
“We considered simply de-ranging [Grand Theft Auto V], however that would require us to judge the merits of every R18 product on an conoinuing basis, which we are not in a position to do. Neither do we see it as our role,” Mr Powell says.
“With the increasing amount of feedback we get from customers, team members, and the wider community around R18 material, we believe that our exit from R18 games and DVDs will be positively received by parents and families around the country; it’s simply the right thing to do for our brand.”
It will take about 48 hours to take the affected products off shelves across The Warehouse and Noel Leeming stores.
Grand Theft Auto V was released in September 2013 on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It was re-released on Xbox One and Playstation 4 last week with graphical enhancements and an optional first-person perspective mode.
The announcement comes at the same time when the chief censor has taken aim at the games industry and Global mode ISPs.
Campbell Gibson
Mon, 24 Nov 2014
Mon, 24 Nov 2014
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Warehouse bans R18 games and DVDs
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