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[Update] Sony Suspends PSN User For Sharing Naked Screenshot From Watch Dogs 2
Update: Ubisoft has issued a statement about the explicit texture models in the game:
We’re aware that one of the NPC models in Watch Dogs 2 is rendered in a way that is particularly explicit. While Watch Dogs 2 is a mature-rated game, we apologize and will update this NPC model to make it more consistent with other NPC models in the game in a patch to be released this week. We also are working with our first-party partners to ensure that players can continue to play and share all content from the game within the bounds of the first parties’ respective codes of conduct.
Original Story (November 14 at 8:00 PM Central)
Today on NeoGAF, user Goron2000 posted about how they had received Watch Dogs 2 early and had been playing through the game when they ran into something you don't typically see in video games: explicit female nudity. Here's Goron's account of what happened:
I received my copy of Watch Dogs 2 on Saturday evening due to a mistake on Amazon Prime Now and I've been having a great time with the game so far. On Sunday evening I accidentally blew up a few women in a back alley with a gas pipe and then I saw *it*; someone at Ubisoft had rendered a full vagina on one (or maybe more) of the females in the game.
I took a picture of this funny oversight with the ingame camera and shared it on twitter for my friends to see and I posted it in one of the Watch Dogs early release threads on here. Cut to tonight where I can't access any services while playing the game and then when I tried to sign in there was a very brief message about my account being suspended.
Goron says that they checked their email to discover a message from Sony informing them they had been suspended for a week for sharing "content of an adult or sexual nature [that] is against our Code of Conduct." According to the email, Goron has no access to the PlayStation Store or multiplayer until the suspension lifts.
The picture in question is still on Twitter (warning: graphic nudity) and lends credence to the story, though we have not received any other confirmation from other players or Sony or Ubisoft at this time.
We've reached out to both Sony and Ubisoft for comment and will update this article accordingly should we hear back.
Our Take
Regardless of how you feel about nudity in games, if this is true, Goron's position is an interesting one. He has essentially been suspended from using Sony's services for sharing an image from a game he legally purchased with the tools that Sony gives players to share their experiences. Though the picture certainly fits into the "adult nature" that's part of Sony's code of conduct, Goron wasn't sharing pornography but instead simply a screenshot taken from the game.
It seems strange and maybe unfair to punish a PSN user for sharing content available in a retail game. Obviously, we're going to have to wait for the full story here to figure out what's going on, but in the meantime, those of you who have retail copies of Watch Dogs 2 probably shouldn't share any risque images you find in-game.
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