L/A
The computer game "No Mercy" centres around a male protagonist who is encouraged to "become every woman's worst nightmare", and "never take no for an answer.". Picture: No Mercy on Steam
By Asher McShane
A game that touts itself as an "incest and non-consensual sex' simulator has been pulled from the world's biggest PC gaming platform in Australia and Canada as pressure mounts on UK authorities to follow suit.
The computer game "No Mercy" centres around a male protagonist who is encouraged to "become every woman's worst nightmare", and "never take no for an answer."
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, who is responsible for overseeing the government's online safety strategy, described the game as "deeply worrying" and demanded the tech giant take it down.
The game launched on Steam last month and is described by its own developers as containing violence, incest, blackmail, and what they describe as "unavoidable non-consensual sex."
After LBC revealed it was still available on Steam in the UK, it emerged that Australian and Canadian officials had swiftly made it unavailable for download.
Officials in Australia pulled it for being ‘unclassified’. A spokesman for Australia’s department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts said: “The computer game, No Mercy, is unclassified and has now been removed from sale from the Steam platform in Australia.”
Efforts to have the game removed in Australia were spearheaded by campaign group Collective Shout who wrote to the country’s regulator as well as launching a global petition.
After a public backlash the game was also removed from Steam in Canada after less than 24 hours.
Pepe Di'Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School of College Leaders told LBC: “Just copy Australia. Australia seems to have got a grip on this, they seem to have acted swiftly.
"They realise they have to protect young people who are at the heart of this… I think that we’ve got a game of tennis taking place between Ofcom and tech companies, what we’re seeing is people blaming one another.
"Let’s get the legislation doing what it should do and let’s make sure we can protect the young people who are most at threat from this right now.”
The video game has 'very positive' reviews from sick users on Steam. Picture: Steam
The game requires a card to buy, but has minimal age-verification checks, with campaigners warning it could be downloaded by children.
“Adult themes exist in video games, but I’m so shocked and surprised by this,” LBC's tech correspondent Will Guyatt said.
“There's probably about 3.5 million active Steam accounts in the UK… I just don't see how this can be openly, easily available and also importantly not removed when people like myself have reported it as unsuitable.”
LBC created a Steam account with full access to adult content by simply ticking boxes claiming to be 18+, and was able to download No Mercy for £9.99.
“Tech companies make it as easy as possible for kids to go on and put in a fake age and put in a card,” child mental health expert Nova Eden said.
She says many parents will be under the misconception that sites like Steam are “a game shop, a social network,” and therefore assume they are properly moderated.
In reality, Steam is not signed up to any age-rating frameworks like PEGI, a content rating system established to help European consumers make informed decisions when buying video games through the use of approved age recommendations and content descriptors.
Anyone can upload a game for sale on the site, which then sits alongside products developed by regulated, mainstream games studios.
LBC reported the game to Steam as inappropriate five days ago. It has still not been taken down, or subject to more stringent controls.
The game's presence online also raises questions about the regulator Ofcom’s ability to properly moderate content.
It began its crackdown on harmful online content last month as part of the Government’s Online Safety Act, but the regulator told LBC it “can’t investigate individual complaints.”
That’s despite chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes saying as part of LBC’s Online Safety Day last month: “Our under-18s deserve a very different experience to the one they’re getting now, so no pornography, and a significant down-ranking of things like violent content, misogyny.”
The body is due to publish its “children’s codes” which will set out requirements for sites to protect young people online. Tech firms will then have three months to carry out risk assessments.
“I'm very interested to see how [Steam’s parent-company Valve] will justify that topics like this are acceptable in a game, and if they do deem them acceptable, they should make it a hell of a lot harder for your everyday consumer to be able to find,” Guyatt said.
“It's intriguing to see where this fits under the Online Safety Bill.”
Mr Kyle, who is facing pressure over the potential watering down of the Online Safety Act, insisted that Steam should remove the game from its marketplace.
He told LBC: “We expect every one of those [tech] companies to remove content as soon as they possibly can after being made aware of it. That’s what the law requires, it is what I require as a secretary of state, and it is certainly how we expect platforms who operate and have the privilege of access to British society, and British economy, to do.”
Mr Kyle also suggested that the regulator should make a call on whether the game should remain online.
"Ofcom is the regulator," Mr Kyle said. "They are tasked with enforcing and they will make the judgment as to whether content is removed in an appropriate time."
A spokesperson for the Games Rating Authority said:"Game ratings provide parents and players information about the content of video games.
In the UK, physical game releases must carry a PEGI age rating by law. Digital games are not legally required to carry an age rating, but the majority of leading stores use the trusted PEGI age rating process to provide confidence to consumers.
Although games on Steam can optionally apply for a PEGI age rating via our classification process, it is not mandated by the platform prior to a game's release.
The Games Rating Authority has not classified this game and has not been approach to classify it since its release."
Steam did not respond to LBC's requests for comment.
The computer game "No Mercy" centres around a male protagonist who is encouraged to "become every woman's worst nightmare", and "never take no for an answer.". Picture: No Mercy on Steam
By Asher McShane
A game that touts itself as an "incest and non-consensual sex' simulator has been pulled from the world's biggest PC gaming platform in Australia and Canada as pressure mounts on UK authorities to follow suit.
The computer game "No Mercy" centres around a male protagonist who is encouraged to "become every woman's worst nightmare", and "never take no for an answer."
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle, who is responsible for overseeing the government's online safety strategy, described the game as "deeply worrying" and demanded the tech giant take it down.
The game launched on Steam last month and is described by its own developers as containing violence, incest, blackmail, and what they describe as "unavoidable non-consensual sex."
After LBC revealed it was still available on Steam in the UK, it emerged that Australian and Canadian officials had swiftly made it unavailable for download.
Officials in Australia pulled it for being ‘unclassified’. A spokesman for Australia’s department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts said: “The computer game, No Mercy, is unclassified and has now been removed from sale from the Steam platform in Australia.”
Efforts to have the game removed in Australia were spearheaded by campaign group Collective Shout who wrote to the country’s regulator as well as launching a global petition.
After a public backlash the game was also removed from Steam in Canada after less than 24 hours.
Pepe Di'Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School of College Leaders told LBC: “Just copy Australia. Australia seems to have got a grip on this, they seem to have acted swiftly.
"They realise they have to protect young people who are at the heart of this… I think that we’ve got a game of tennis taking place between Ofcom and tech companies, what we’re seeing is people blaming one another.
"Let’s get the legislation doing what it should do and let’s make sure we can protect the young people who are most at threat from this right now.”
The video game has 'very positive' reviews from sick users on Steam. Picture: Steam
The game requires a card to buy, but has minimal age-verification checks, with campaigners warning it could be downloaded by children.
“Adult themes exist in video games, but I’m so shocked and surprised by this,” LBC's tech correspondent Will Guyatt said.
“There's probably about 3.5 million active Steam accounts in the UK… I just don't see how this can be openly, easily available and also importantly not removed when people like myself have reported it as unsuitable.”
LBC created a Steam account with full access to adult content by simply ticking boxes claiming to be 18+, and was able to download No Mercy for £9.99.
“Tech companies make it as easy as possible for kids to go on and put in a fake age and put in a card,” child mental health expert Nova Eden said.
She says many parents will be under the misconception that sites like Steam are “a game shop, a social network,” and therefore assume they are properly moderated.
In reality, Steam is not signed up to any age-rating frameworks like PEGI, a content rating system established to help European consumers make informed decisions when buying video games through the use of approved age recommendations and content descriptors.
Anyone can upload a game for sale on the site, which then sits alongside products developed by regulated, mainstream games studios.
LBC reported the game to Steam as inappropriate five days ago. It has still not been taken down, or subject to more stringent controls.
The game's presence online also raises questions about the regulator Ofcom’s ability to properly moderate content.
It began its crackdown on harmful online content last month as part of the Government’s Online Safety Act, but the regulator told LBC it “can’t investigate individual complaints.”
That’s despite chief executive Dame Melanie Dawes saying as part of LBC’s Online Safety Day last month: “Our under-18s deserve a very different experience to the one they’re getting now, so no pornography, and a significant down-ranking of things like violent content, misogyny.”
The body is due to publish its “children’s codes” which will set out requirements for sites to protect young people online. Tech firms will then have three months to carry out risk assessments.
“I'm very interested to see how [Steam’s parent-company Valve] will justify that topics like this are acceptable in a game, and if they do deem them acceptable, they should make it a hell of a lot harder for your everyday consumer to be able to find,” Guyatt said.
“It's intriguing to see where this fits under the Online Safety Bill.”
Mr Kyle, who is facing pressure over the potential watering down of the Online Safety Act, insisted that Steam should remove the game from its marketplace.
He told LBC: “We expect every one of those [tech] companies to remove content as soon as they possibly can after being made aware of it. That’s what the law requires, it is what I require as a secretary of state, and it is certainly how we expect platforms who operate and have the privilege of access to British society, and British economy, to do.”
Mr Kyle also suggested that the regulator should make a call on whether the game should remain online.
"Ofcom is the regulator," Mr Kyle said. "They are tasked with enforcing and they will make the judgment as to whether content is removed in an appropriate time."
A spokesperson for the Games Rating Authority said:"Game ratings provide parents and players information about the content of video games.
In the UK, physical game releases must carry a PEGI age rating by law. Digital games are not legally required to carry an age rating, but the majority of leading stores use the trusted PEGI age rating process to provide confidence to consumers.
Although games on Steam can optionally apply for a PEGI age rating via our classification process, it is not mandated by the platform prior to a game's release.
The Games Rating Authority has not classified this game and has not been approach to classify it since its release."
Steam did not respond to LBC's requests for comment.
