Watch Dogs 2 has lady parts in it, but you better be careful about how you share that information.
Over the weekend, a player found a character in Watch Dogs 2 with an exposed vagina (NSFW), which he found shocking. So he took a screenshot and sent it to Twitter using the PlayStation 4’s built-in sharing tools. On Monday, Goron2000 (which the player goes by on the NeoGAF message board where he shared his account of what happened) found out that Sony had banned him from using PlayStation Network services for a week for violating its code of conduct.
In an email from Sony’s messaging service (that I’ve examined), the company notes that a moderator analyzed the activity and decided it was worthy of a suspension:
“We’re writing to inform you that your Sony Entertainment Network account has been temporarily suspended. We’ve made this decision based on your online activity in Live from PlayStation on 14-11-2016.
Content of an adult or sexual nature is against our Code of Conduct. The suspension will last 1 week and will be lifted on 21-11-2016. You won’t be able to access online multiplayer, PlayStation Store and other network features until the suspension is over.”
Ubisoft has responded to this situation, and it revealed it is planning to update Watch Dogs 2 to remove the exposed vagina from the game.
I’ve also asked Sony about this case, but it’s likely accurate that just because a game features sexual content, players cannot use Sony’s services to distribute that content. I also asked Ubisoft about this, but the game is Rated M for Mature and includes a warning about nudity. The publisher also previously included exposed genitalia in its Far Cry: Primal survival adventure that debuted earlier this year. Hey, maybe the French have a passion for anatomically correct NPCs — who am I to judge?
Sony, however, did render a judgment against Goron2000, and he is feeling a bit burnt by the whole situation.
“So I now have a new game that relies heavily on online features that I won’t be able to enjoy this week,” he wrote. “Do you guys think they were right to suspend me for sharing content they’ve allowed on their platform?”
But while Goron waits for an answer, you should probably treat his experience as a lesson: If you see a little something something, don’t say a little something something