Sony blamed for Manhunt 2 leak

By Robert Purchese Published 22 October, 2007

Take-Two points finger.

Take-Two has issued an official statement blaming a Sony Europe employee for leaking Manhunt 2 code onto the Internet.

Until now, the person responsible for the September download had been named only as someone who had access to the game.

"Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that a former employee of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has acknowledged his responsibility for the unauthorized online distribution of an unrated play-test version of Manhunt 2 submitted for the European PAL PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system," the publisher told GamePolitics.

Manhunt 2 was denied the right to be sold in the UK for the second time at the beginning of October, after the BBFC claimed the changes made to the game had not gone far enough to grant it a green light.

However, its decision has been brought back to the attention of the media after David Cronenberg's violent latest, Eastern Promises, was deemed okay for UK audiences despite featuring scenes gruesome enough to make people turn away from the screen.

"These days we are not here to cut; we are here to provide information and let people then make up their minds... People also have expectations of what a Cronenberg film is," the BBFC told The Times.

Manhunt 2 has been given the go-ahead in the US under a Mature 17+ rating, and in Holland where you will have to be over 16 to buy it.

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.

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

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Comments (45) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • lost_soul #1 4 years ago

    "People also have expectations of what a Cronenberg film is," the BBFC told The Times."

    And people don't have expectations of what a Rockstar game is going to be like?

    Tossers.
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/07 @ 14:57

  • killyourtv #2 4 years ago

    "These days we are not here to cut; we are here to provide information and let people then make up their minds"

    Doesn't that totally contradict their whole manhunt stance??

  • That_Happy_Cat #3 4 years ago

    I guess they mean "these days" in relation to the movie industry. The games industry will reach "these days" in about 15 years time.

  • Skeptopotamus #4 4 years ago

    The difference:

    12/13 year olds don't want to see a Cronenberg film

    12/13 year olds DO want to play Manhunt 2, coz it's well gory and you get to stab people, yeah!

  • Goffee #5 4 years ago

    Game about crime makes games industry person turn to crime... that'll look good in the next 'games shocker' report

  • Fitzmogwai #6 4 years ago

    / unsubscribes

  • Killerbee #7 4 years ago

    People also have expectations of what a Cronenberg film is

    Seems like a ludicrous statement. The point of a rating is to inform people who don't know what they're potentially letting themselves in for what the content of a film or game is like and what ages it's suitable for.

    And surely if people are considered to be informed enough to know that a particular director's output is of a certain flavour (and personally, at the age of 29, I don't think I've ever seen a Cronenberg film, so I actually don't have any expectations - it sounds a bit shit though...), then gamers can be considered informed enough to know what Manhunt is about. It's predecessor was plastered all over the papers, after all, so it's had infinitely more exposure than (/checks article) "Eastern Promises" which I'd never heard of until reading this article.

    I actually had a certain degree of respect for the BBFC's decision to refuse a certificate for Manhunt 2, but blatant double-standards like this are never going to help their cause. Sounds as though some spokesperson was out of their depth answering questions on this.

  • bonker #8 4 years ago

    This guy has a serious lack of perspective, particularly for someone in his job.

    Cronenberg's output contains 1000% more viscera than your average director's output but there's no way that more than 0.001% of people have even ever heard of him never mind know what style of films he's often involved in ...

  • skillian #9 4 years ago

    there's no way that more than 0.001% of people have even ever heard of him

    This is madness, unless you're including tribes in the Congo and such.

    The difference:

    12/13 year olds don't want to see a Cronenberg film

    12/13 year olds DO want to play Manhunt 2, coz it's well gory and you get to stab people, yeah!

    Agreed, this is the real difference. It maybe unfair, but that's the way it is.

  • BlueDot #10 4 years ago

    " The difference:

    12/13 year olds don't want to see a Cronenberg film

    12/13 year olds DO want to play Manhunt 2, coz it's well gory and you get to stab people, yeah! "

    Yes, that's the point right there. I recall being on a train carriage with a bunch of school children, they were discussing playing GTA: SA and how they get to shoot people.
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/07 @ 15:40

  • skillian #11 4 years ago

    kids will be kids and they will seek out all the things they shouldn't be doing.

    Just like you used to do.

    This is true, but I never watched ultra-violent films for 6 hours a day, every day, like some kids play these games.

  • MrObycyek #12 4 years ago

    The BBFC statement is a joke. It is a total contradiction. Banning something outright is not my idea of providing information and LETTING people make up their own minds. You could not make this up.
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/07 @ 16:17

  • Lov3 #13 4 years ago

    "personally, at the age of 29, I don't think I've ever seen a Cronenberg film, so I actually don't have any expectations - it sounds a bit shit though..."

    He made 'The Fly' back in the 80's, in case anyone is unaware of who he is. His films are basically designed to disgust and horrify, and unfailingly follow the same theme. Rather like Rockstar and violence in games, which is pretty much what this topic is about.

    (PS. Crash is his best film IMO, go there for an introduction)
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/07 @ 16:19

  • paulf #14 4 years ago

    the real difference is that in a film you are a passive watcher of the violence. In the game you are an active participant (I think the BBFC already stated this as the reason for not giving Manhunt 2 a rating)

    TBH although I dont agree with them not rating it on this basis, I think there is a distinction between the active violence of some games and the passive violence of movies. However whether this has any effect on whether people become violent after watching/playing is a whole different debate

  • hiddenranbir #15 4 years ago

    Turning away from the screen due to horrific violent scenes - all part of the fun.

    Good god.

    Get better regulation on games and maybe we'll have a standardised rating system.

  • dadrester #16 4 years ago

    eastern promises looks quite good. didn't realise it was a Cronenberg, nor did i realise it was meant to be quite as ultraviolent.

    anyway. i don't think manhunt 2 was banned for it's violence so much but rather the way in which the violence is handled. that said i've seen some movies that make you question the censors integrity. irreversible for a start. i liked the movie, but ... what's the point of it? if that's not a movie that shows "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone overall ... with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing." [edit] then i don't know what is.
    Edited by 2 at 22/10/07 @ 16:47

  • DanWhitehead #17 4 years ago

    Much like A History of Violence, Eastern Promises is nowhere near as gory or explicit as people think. It really only has one scene of graphic violence and is, ironically, not at all what most people expect from a Cronenberg film.

  • SEVQA #18 4 years ago

    Kudos to guy who leaked the title, the world needs more people like that with a Guy Fawkes F U attitude to authority!

    If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t be going through what is a fantastic game.

    ( R* I’ll buy the limited edition GTA4 pack and merchandise to go along with all the stuff I’ve got).

    "These days we are here to cut; people” (thats virtual people for the insane!)

  • Bumhug360 #19 4 years ago

    "Kudos to guy who leaked the title, the world needs more people like that with a Guy Fawkes F U attitude to authority!

    If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t be going through what is a fantastic game."

    I am sure that the ex-employee will feel a hell of a lot better when he next signs on at the job center knowing that ;)

  • paulf #20 4 years ago

    I am sure that the ex-employee will feel a hell of a lot better when he next signs on at the job center knowing that ;)

    assuming that the leak wasnt planned all along ;)

  • Garulon #21 4 years ago

    "Let's not pretend it's all the parents fault, we all done things we shouldn't have when we were young behind our parents backs"

    Well if we've all done it, then there's clearly no harm as we've all done it, so we don't need these idiots chopping headbutts out of movies or outright killing a product they don't like stone dead, do we?

  • dadrester #22 4 years ago

    anyway. the guy who leaked it clearly deserves to be on the fucking dole. i wonder what other QA code he's passed on to his mates? fucking retard. talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

  • SEVQA #23 4 years ago

    I think you find all corporations bite all our hands and then feed us the scraps!

  • brutal #24 4 years ago

    I wonder how many people did not know it was leaked at all, read this and then go on to try and find a pirate copy.

    To me, this story does nothing but encourage piracy, whilst (rightly?) singling out a SCE employee for public bashing.

    That any code got out of SCE is a massive embarrasment and this will be prime concern to any Developers/Publishers out there.

  • SEVQA #25 4 years ago

    Look! before this gets silly not that it hasn’t already but I do not want to come across that I condone stealing in any shape or form...

    "Just gotabe handy with the steal earn your keep!"

    "AND BRING BACK TV-LINKS"

  • Apologie #26 4 years ago

    I don't like these game... unjustified violence, just to shock.

  • LOLLERS #27 4 years ago

    Dr. Tanya Byron will fix all this, don't worry.

  • smelly #28 4 years ago

    >assuming that the leak wasnt planned all along


    Rockstar are a business.. They wouldnt want to purposefully lose money.

    They would keep cutting the game until it got a rating.

    Pretty much all games somehow get "leaked" before they're released. Normally some c**ty spotty teenager in a qa department somewhere.

  • smelly #29 4 years ago

    @Apologie:

    I dont like fps games. Unjustified boring running down corridors moving cursor onto things and pressing the fire button.

    Only reason people like them is for an anger and agression release imho.

    (DOESNT mean they should be banned though)


    Just because you personally dont like something.. etc etc etc.

  • KingOfMyCastle #30 4 years ago

    So has anybody got any idea when this is coming out in Holland?

  • Monkey-Wizard-Ken #31 4 years ago

    First popular move Sony has made in years!

  • huxathon #32 4 years ago

    Films aren't passive entertainment, they are submissive entertainment. Cronenberg will force you to confront things you'd rather not know about (like man/fly/machine hybrids begging to be killed). Games however have an element of proactive choice about them. You could play Manhunt without killing anyone. It'd be shit and over in about four minutes, but it is possible. Not quite sure what I'm trying to say there... I'll get back to you on that.

  • ph101 #33 4 years ago

    hypocritical f*cks

  • Ryze #34 4 years ago

    I'm still after the uncut Netherlands version - IF it's the uncut version that they're releasing.

    Not chasing drama or vulgarity, it's just that I would have bought a UK Wii in June for this game. Nintendo are losing out.

    I'd have bought:

    RE4
    Godfather
    Paper Mario
    Metroid

    at the very least, plus a bunch of VC games starting with Streets of Rage II.

    Last time this gaming calendar disruption happened was when the PSP UK launch was delayed. Instead the money went on summer fun!

    Manhunt 2 was the perfect impulse purchase. Now I'm looking at importing a US console - that wont let me play the uncut game though...

    Why do they make this so awkward for me?!?!?!?

  • Lov3 #35 4 years ago

    "Rockstar are a business.. They wouldnt want to purposefully lose money."

    It's a PS2 game don't forget. So what if they've released it on the internet? What you'll find is that people with modded PS2's will be getting the full game in all it's glory. That might be a couple thousand people in the UK in total, and those are the people who would have copied the game when it was released anyway. A cracked PC game and a cracked console game are two different things. Now add in the fact that the 'leak' has had more publicity than any ripped piece of software anywhere, and you've got yourself a suspicious situation.

    @SEVQA: Dude, I kept hoping that tv-links was just having ddos problems... now i'm sad :(.

  • chronom4n #36 4 years ago

    the bbfc and its ilk are stereotyping the video game genre. People have expectations of what a cronenberg film is? i mean what the fuck is that all about. they bloody well believe that video games are at the bottom end of the social scale. trust me how many acts of violence have been influenced at one time or another by films? i think that horror films for me anyways give me more nightmares that any games ever will.

    Personally i feel the bbfc are a bunch of hyporcites, double-standard, prejudiced bunch of losers.

  • Barry619 #37 4 years ago

    My argument is that really a BBFC rating should be the same. Alot of people here are mentioning that 12/13 year old kids want to play this game, well if the BBFC gave it a 18 rating, which now-a-days are as clearly marked on games as they are dvd's, then what is the problem? Sure dodgy shops or parents that don't care may still provide means for these kids to get there hands on it, but this has been the same with film for years, it's like there applying a whole set of stricter rules just because "tradionally" kids play videogames, which i don't think is a fair rating system.

  • smelly #38 4 years ago

    "It's a PS2 game don't forget. So what if they've released it on the internet? What you'll find is that people with modded PS2's will be getting the full game in all it's glory. That might be a couple thousand people in the UK in total, and those are the people who would have copied the game when it was released anyway. A cracked PC game and a cracked console game are two different things. Now add in the fact that the 'leak' has had more publicity than any ripped piece of software anywhere, and you've got yourself a suspicious situation. "



    WTF are you talking about?

    Ps2 is STILL the most popular console out there and STILL acconts for a HELL of a lot of game sales!

    Why on hell would rockstar PUPROSEFULLY have give their game away for free because "people would've pirated it anyway"?

  • Freek #39 4 years ago

    We're probably not getting a special version in The Netherlands, the government simply deemed it okay for release.
    But there's no word on an uncutt version. Rockstar probably aren't going to make one special PAL version for such a small market.

  • RandolphScott #40 4 years ago

    Seriously EG - "Sony blamed for Manhunt 2 leak". That's just bad journalism.

    "Sony employee blamed for Manhunt 2 leak". You're not the Daily Mail you know?

    What's next "Death by Playstation"

  • RandolphScott #41 4 years ago

    "The big difference is over that period Cronenberg has demonstrated a seriousness of intent that has given him artistic credibility, whereas Rockstar are still playing to the peanut gallery with cheap shocks and thrills. "

    Yeah Rockstar are all about cheap shocks and thrills...

    [link url=http://www.gamerankings.com/itemrankings/itemsearch.asp
    ]    http://ww w.gamerankings.com/itemrankings...[/link]

    Gamerankings is all about cheap shocks and thrills. And let's ignore the rest of Rockstar's output.

    You dumb shit.
    Edited by 1 at 23/10/07 @ 09:34

  • RexRunti #42 4 years ago

    I must say this is a very inflamatroy article. Firstly what the hell does the release of Eastern Promises have to do with Manhunt 2? So the BBFC can get bashed for not censoring or banning a film with a couple of violent scenes in it? I thought people were saying the BBFC were a bunch big brothers working for the nanny state?

    Now they'll go down the inconsitancy route after comparing apples and lamposts the BBFC have never, never said "There is too much violence" in Manhunt 2 their issues have always been the way it handles the violence. The fact is in Manhunt 2 or any computer game you are forced to play as the protagonist so you are forced to be a serial killer you can not complete the game without brutally tourturing innocent people. This is the issue the BBFC have with the game and any complaints about the ban should be about that fact and not that isn't more violent than movie X.

    And oh, to the guy who said we need more people with a Guy Fawkes attitude... of course that's what the world really needs more of - relegious terrorists. If you think Guy Fawkes was a person who deserves emmulation then you clearly don't know the difference between right and wrong and I'm worried for the sake of the community that you've got your hands on Manhunt 2.

  • miiiguel #43 4 years ago

    cheap shocks and thrills can be astistic.

    The statements about let's protect 12/13 years old is a bit reactionary. 20's, 30's, 40's years old can't enjoy it because of that ?

    Let's ban because you don't like it, that's not a bit reactionary, that's tottaly fascist.

    Rex: you sound like you've finished the game a couple of times, and seen the movie thrice (a couple of violent scenes???! - I saw it m8!)... get away from me!
    Edited by 3 at 23/10/07 @ 11:26

  • zuljin #44 4 years ago

    @RexRunti
    Get your common sense out of this thread man! This is a games forum!

  • indotoonster #45 4 years ago

    "The big difference is over that period Cronenberg has demonstrated a seriousness of intent that has given him artistic credibility, whereas Rockstar are still playing to the peanut gallery with cheap shocks and thrills."

    @Arbiter:

    So what you're saying is that even though 2 cultural artifacts are exactly the same, one might be OK because the creator has artistic credibility, whereas the other one isn't?

    I'm sorry, but that statement is entirely subjective, and to suggest the BBFC use that line of reasoning is utter bollocks. Yes, censorship is all about judgment calls in the end, but surely as much as possible you want to define objective parameters.

    I detest the double standards the Arty Farty crowd use... Pasolini's "Salo" is OK because it's ART(tm), but your average scatological kiddy fiddling porn is SICK FILTH(tm).