No German restriction for Gears of War 3

By Robert Purchese Published 13 July, 2011

MS publishing there uncut.

Microsoft can publish Gears of War 3 in Germany with no restrictions - a first for Epic Games' brutal shooter series.

What's more, the third instalment will be sold in uncut form, reported Eurogamer Germany.

That means Gears of War 3 in Germany will be identical to Gears of War 3 in the US. Which means, yes, red blood rather than green blood.

Germans will need to be 18 or over to buy Gears of War 3.

Microsoft decided not to publisher Gears of War 1 and Gears of War 2 in Germany because of a strict regional anti-violent-and-bloody-game stance. PEGI-rated versions of Gears 1 or Gears 2 that made their way to Germany were "indexed" - categorised as List A by the ruling body BPJM.

That means shops could theoretically sell the games to adults who asked, but all press coverage and marketing was forbidden. In practice, List A games are virtually non-existent, as they're absent from major shops and the press.

In a peculiar about-turn, the BPJM ruled that there was no "relevance for a ban" with Gears of War 3. The series' gory chainsaw kills and brutal curb stomps had previously proven particularly controversial.

[Special thanks, UncleLou -Ed.]

Gore Verbinski should make the film.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (14) Latest comment 11 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • DAN.E.B #1 11 months ago

    Wont someone think of zee children!

  • neilka #2 11 months ago

    Don't mention the Gears

  • UncleLou #3 11 months ago

    A few corrections, if I may:

    Gears wasn't banned here, Microsoft was afraid it might get though and therefore decided not to publish it at all. Even if it would have been banned, it would still have been allowed to sell it to adults, it's just that advertising is restricted (the "List A" mentioned in the article).

    I, as an adult, own a perfectly legal, imported PC version. The PEGI version wasn't "banned", either, it just didn't get an age rating because it's a foreign version and foreign media generally aren't rated, obviously, and are therefore 18+ by default.

    In other words: if you're over 18, it's legal and easily possible to play pretty much everything uncut, with a few very rare exceptions where a game gets downright forbidden (List B). I couldn't name a game in the last few years where that happened.
    Edited by UncleLou at 13/07/11 @ 10:12

  • f1r3storm Verified Redakteur, Eurogamer Deutschland #4 11 months ago

    Dead Rising was banned. Also the international versions of Wolfenstein or Left 4 Dead 2 are banned.

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #5 11 months ago

    Thanks, Lou - I'm making a couple of alterations.

  • SteveHolt #6 11 months ago

    unglaublich! Ich wird gears3 verkaufen!

  • frunk #7 11 months ago

    Hehe - I like Germany's attitude - polar opposite to the US.

    Sex and violence are often thrown together in the same phrase, but...

    In the US - hyper-violence, blood and pain are order of the day. However mention of anything sexual and it's "sickening".

    In Germany - crazy sex'n'porn is order of the day. However mention of anything too violent and it's "sickening"

    I know which I think is the better world view, the one that has a hint of consent and is not all about hate & destruction.

    So thumbs up to Germany - if you are going to be prudish about something be prudish about something which exists only to inflict pain (with guns)... well non-consensual pain (with whips) :)

  • Kain201 #8 11 months ago

    Sometimes I wonder if the commentators read the news they comment on.

  • JayKwon #9 11 months ago

    About time.

  • inutaihanyou #10 11 months ago

    Us USains always gotta be mocked :( (although there are legitimate grivences too)

    In my view, all content should be set by parental consent. Graphic violence in video games is apart of the medium, and so sex should be included in that.

    At the same time I'm glad that Catherine among other games have been approved by the ESRB, so hopefully things are improving a bit

    I'm glad that the Germans got the full version this time
    Edited by inutaihanyou at 13/07/11 @ 15:11

  • Xardan #11 11 months ago

    @Kain201

    I think it depends on the article. But a lot of the time i am pretty sure many dont read much more than the headline. I'd say its about 50/50 for most commentators.

  • ulix #12 11 months ago

    And while it is forbidden to sell games from "List B" to anyone, you are still allowed to own them (if you're an adult), and can theoretically just order them from some other country.

    Customs might keep them, though, if they're discovered (very unlikely).

  • OliverH #13 11 months ago

    Yeah, well, the BPJM DOES occasionally revise its criteria based on the fact that what is and what is not generally acceptable evolves over time. Heck, in the US, TV still bleeps out curse words, in Germany, nobody gives a rodent's posterior these days - 30 years ago, a lot of people would still have been outraged. The BPJM might be lagging behind the times quite often, but that's the rule rather than the exception with any political body - and the topic is quite controversial among politicians.

  • PatTheMav #14 11 months ago

    So when can I expect being able to download my Gears 2 CE DLC that isn't downloadable on the German marketplace?