Regardless of what you think about the original Sniper: Ghost Warrior, there’s no denying that City Interactive’s cunning approach to bypassing global classification concerns for Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 is on the money. You see, the core game is set to include enemy dismemberment, but you won’t find that in the retail release anywhere around the globe.
According to a Joystiq interview with producer Michael Sroczynski, dismemberment has been cut out of retail copies of the game—across all platforms—specifically, to facilitate classification in Germany. Obviously, as a country that can sometimes empathise with Germany in regards to strict classification guidelines, this is potentially relevant information for potential Australian purchasers, too.
The dismemberment content will be offered as day-one “DLC” in all regions except Germany. Sroczynski’s specific use of the term “DLC” is important in this context, as updates/patches tend to download and apply themselves automatically, whereas there is manual interaction required to access DLC.
A quick search of the Classification Board’s website doesn’t reveal a rating for Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 (yet) which, depending on how the Board rates the game, may mean that we fall under the same exclusion as Germany. Here’s to hoping that Germany flies this exclusion solo.
I wonder if there will be any classification ramifications for, this considering City Interactive is deliberately withholding high-impact content and offering it for free after the game has been purchased. Have they found a logistical loophole?
