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Sony Bans Pickup Artist Game Super Seducer From Its Online Store
Super Seducer is a game that bills itself as "the world’s most realistic seduction simulator." Given that descriptor, it's not surprising the game has been met with criticism over its depiction of women as things to be conquered and not as people.
The game was released on March 6 on PC and was supposed to be out on PS4 as well but Sony has blocked the game from being released on its online store according to BBC. A cursory search of the PlayStation store reveals that the game is indeed not available for purchase.
We've reached out to creator Richard La Ruina, who calls himself Europe's top pick-up artist, for comment on the matter and will update the article accordingly if he responds.
Super Seducer is still available on Steam.
Our Take
Super Seducer sounds straight-up gross and toxic, and Sony is free to do what they want, but the ban does present an interesting question of what is permissible on storefronts. Countless games let players portray killers of all sorts with little consequence. The discussion of permissible fantasies is an interesting, murky one but banning content, as opposed to letting audiences have whatever reaction they're going to have (whether it's celebrating a work or ridiculing it), has never struck me as a particularly effective solution.
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