Manhunt 2: Banned by the BBFC

30 Years Of Play

Manhunt 2 became one of only two games to be denied an age rating by the BBFC when it attempted to release in 2007. Denying it an age rating for "sustained and cumulative casual sadism" amongst other reasons, it led to a notable court case between Take Two and the BBFC in what's been called the video games industry's Lady Chatterley's lover moment. But what precisely led to the initial decision to deny the game an age rating? And why, in the end, was Manhunt 2 able to receive a rating nearly a year later after lengthy back and forth in the courts? Vincent Scheurer, a long serving video game lawyer and current COO at Payload Studios, attended the court case. He explained the ins and outs of the case to us in the Ukie studio to help us answer those questions and much more. ———- You can listen to the 30 Years of Play podcast on Soundcloud, Acast, iTunes and Spotify. Make sure to subscribe and leave a five star rating if you've enjoyed the show. You can check out the 30 Years of Play blog for more content about he past, present and future of the UK interactive entertainment industry at www.30yearsofplay.uk. And you can keep up with us on Twitter @30YearsOfPlay and via our social media hashtag #30YearsOfPlay.