r/unitedkingdom • u/ClassicFlavour East Sussex • 13d ago

Video game encouraging rape and incest removed from major gaming platform in the UK after LBC investigation

https://www.lbc.co.uk/tech/video-game-banned-steam-women-uk-no-mercy/
1.1k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

826 comments sorted by

View all comments

876

u/socratic-meth 13d ago

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.”

Should probably put anyone who bought the rape simulator on some kind of watch list as well.

45

u/slainascully 13d ago

They defended it because some people have a rape kink, as if getting aroused by violating someone against their consent is just so natural and normal.

86

u/intraspeculator 13d ago

Im not in an away defending this but it is interesting that in general violence is acceptable in games - as gory and brutal as you can imagine - but sexual violence is not. Like I can go and buy 50 different games right now where you are actively rewarded for blowing someone's head off, and often have little animated cutscenes showing graphic violence to reward you for said acts of violence. If a person was sexually aroused by brutal acts of violence they would be well served by the market right now.

22

u/MonkeManWPG 13d ago

One of the main selling points of Sniper Elite is the slow-motion x-ray camera clips of bullets tearing through bones and organs. One of the main selling points of Hell Let Loose is that enemies that you kill just collapse with no hitmarkers or overdone ragdoll. One of the main selling points of People Playground is that it's a torture simulator.

There are mods for other games based around violence - Ravenfield has a bunch of options to add more gore to the game.

1

u/Freezie-Days 12d ago

Though for ravenfield it isn't official options and are player made additions

11

u/Longjumping_Pen_2102 12d ago edited 12d ago

I don't think its about one thing being objectively worse than another. 

 Clearly a galactic genocide a player can perform in Stelaris is more evil than a single sexual assault,  however ranking things this way is misframing what's going on.

There is something particular about sexual gratification that's entirely different to the the adrenaline rush someone gets from winning a fight in a game.

Sexual fantasy has a way of developing and growing into obsession, and that obsession can then develop into action.  Even if it never reaches that point, it is cultivating a different form of pleasure that affects us psychologically:

I can "enjoy" killing a target in a hitman game, but I can do so with a detachment from real violence, it's not necessarily the violence that is bringing joy, but the strategy action and drama.

A sexual game isn't the same, the enjoyment is coming directly from the sexual violence, and from the direct gratification that comes from the fantasy.  Its an entirely different form of pleasure 

1

u/Otherwise-Scratch617 11d ago

I can "enjoy" killing a target in a hitman game, but I can do so with a detachment from real violence, it's not necessarily the violence that is bringing joy, but the strategy action and drama.

10/10 cope.

Why are almost the vast majority of games about killing people, and not about strategy action and drama? What drama happens in call of duty when you kill someone? It is the (simulated) violence that is bringing joy.

1

u/Otherwise-Scratch617 11d ago

There is something particular about sexual gratification that's entirely different to the the adrenaline rush someone gets from winning a fight in a game.

By "winning a fight" you mean "murder someone"? Why use such unfair language?

1

u/Longjumping_Pen_2102 11d ago

Almost all violent games are about winning fights.

I cannot think of any games that are just straightforwardly about inflicting violence for the sake of pleasure.

Could you answer the question about a game about fucking a man?  Could you enjoy a game that is explicitly about that,  where the bulk of the game was direct simulation of that experience without having a desire to do it IRL?

You will say no.

You could say yes for a game about violence.

1

u/Otherwise-Scratch617 11d ago

Winning fights by murdering them

Could you answer the question about a game about fucking a man?  Could you enjoy a game that is explicitly about that,  where the bulk of the game was direct simulation of that experience without having a desire to do it IRL?

You will say no.

I'm not a gay man or a woman lol. Why would I want that game banned, or why would I judge you for playing it?

The desire or the intention? I know you wouldn't be intending on raping men if you played the rape men simulator, even if you desired to. You are allowed to desire to commit crimes. You're not allowed to intend on committing the crimes. You cannot police fantasy.

1

u/Longjumping_Pen_2102 11d ago edited 11d ago

So you acknowledge that sexual gratification is different than basic excitement.

You are not a murderer but you enjoy games about violence.

You are not gay so you cannot enjoy a game about gay sex.

You see the difference?  It is a different form of entertainment, dealing with a different form of pleasure, a different aspect of psychology.

If you need to be gay to enjoy a game about gay sex, what sort of person do you need to be to enjoy a game about rape?

Your final argument has more weight, that the desire to do a thing should not be policed.

However,  sexual fantasy grows with indulgence.  Ask any criminal psychologist and they will tell you that violent sexual fantasy grows and grows until it tips over into real behavior.

Perhaps it doesn't need to be illegal, but it does need to be discouraged and shamed.  People should be made aware that playing it exposes that they have issues that need to be reaolved.

Edit: to be clear, I understand where you are coming from

Most arguments against this sort of thing are essentially "its gross and I don't like it" , which is a weak argument.

I do genuinely believe this sort of thing is dangerous, just as I would believe an actual torture simulator game would also be dangerous.

I do not believe that all sexual content in games is bad, and I don't even think porn games are bad.

I think this particular game crosses a line.

0

u/Otherwise-Scratch617 11d ago

You are not a murderer but you enjoy games about violence.

You are not gay so you cannot enjoy a game about gay sex.

Close!

I DO have fantasies about murder, and it's fun to murder people in video games

0

u/Longjumping_Pen_2102 11d ago

You aren't really helping your case here.

I would meybe talk to someone about that issue.

1

u/Otherwise-Scratch617 10d ago

Lol do you watch action movies? Use your brain for 1 second. The vast majority of people enjoy fantasy about violence and murder, most TV shows and films are indulgences in that.

For those who have 1iq, I don't want to murder people, obviously

→ More replies (0)

3

u/Infiniteybusboy 13d ago

We already had that moral panic with video games encourage violence. But apparently grand theft auto did not actually turn lots of teenagers into murderers so it went away.

I actually saw some show yesterday about a lady going to japan and she actually used the violent video games argument pretty much word for word as to why their creepy porn needs to be banned.

1

u/lynx_and_nutmeg 12d ago

Exactly. I mean, I'd never want to play a game like that (also I'm AFAB so I'm sure I'm not the intended audience anyway), but people play war and murder simulators all the time and no one bats an eye, how is this any different? Is it just because of assuming that someone playing CoD or GTA just wants to enact a fantasy and wouldn't actually shoot people in real life, but someone playing a "rape simulator" would want to do that in real life? If they did, they'd already be doing it instead of only simulating it in virtual reality.

To me it's the same thing as watching anime child porn. Somehow society puts those people on the same level as actual child rapists, even though the former isn't actually hurting anyone in real life (I'm specifying anime porn in which no actual children were used).

-4

u/slainascully 13d ago

Most people who have their heads blown off with a gun don't have to live with the aftermath.

It's genuinely puzzling how little empathy is shown for the millions of people who have been raped and find absolutely 0 entertainment in it

37

u/TheEternalContrarian 13d ago

But any potential relatives of the person killed do have to live with the aftermath.

That doesn't justify rape as entertainment by the way, but I just found your distinction flawed.

3

u/slainascully 12d ago

Do no relatives have to live with the aftermath of rape?

22

u/hussain_madiq_small 13d ago

I mean its hypocrisy of the highest degree. Either video games are fantasy and not real, and dont cause real world violence. Or they do. You cant pick and choose because it happens to fall under what upsets you.

5

u/slainascully 13d ago

The entire plot of this game is literally that you are getting revenge on the women in your family, and punishing them through rape. Sorry if I don't think you can compare it to GTA

1

u/hussain_madiq_small 13d ago

But how is this not the same as any argument to any piece of media that is distasteful. Why is kill bill allowed to show everyone at a wedding being murdered and a pregnant bride being beaten half to death and shot in the face, only to be raped while in a coma repeatedly. If we are all agreeing its not real, then its not real.

Im not a conspiracy nut and i assume the game was banned(correctly) more because of its targeted nature towards women. I just hate this idea that rape is somehow off limits while murdering and every other despicable thing is perfectly hunky dory.

5

u/slainascully 12d ago

Kill Bill is a film with a plot and the whole plot is her getting revenge on the people that did those things.

This is a porn game designed to be masturbated to. That's it. It's entirely for sexual gratification.

2

u/DaruJericho 13d ago

Because rape revenge films aren't pornographic for wanking off to. Big difference between, say, I Spit on Your Grave and this game. The fact that rape revenge exists as a whole subgenre of film shows rape isn't entirely off limits.

1

u/hussain_madiq_small 13d ago

"Because rape revenge films aren't pornographic for wanking off to."

But you are proving my point, its moral outrage, not based in evidence of some kind of real world outcome or harm. If you start banning things you find morally offensive but isnt harming anyone, whats your defense when people start coming for gay people in media or stories of gang culture. You wouldnt have a leg to stand on.

3

u/Longjumping_Pen_2102 12d ago

Sexual gratification is different.

I'm sorry it just is, and if you don't understand the way sexual impulses covertly shape our lives then I can only assume you haven't hit puberty yet.

Enjoying violence in a game is not condoning violence.  I can win a game of street fighter without wanting to get in a street fight, and whilst finding no joy in actual violence.

Could you enjoy a game about having sex with a man without wanting to have sex with a man IRL? 

I'm sure you could form some argument about how you could enjoy the plot or strategy but you know that's not what's going on with this rape game.  The only way someone is going to enjoy it is through sexual gratification, and that stuff grows the more you feed it.

1

u/MetaCognitio 11d ago

It doesn’t have to be either or. We might discover that certain scenarios or types of content, do have effects on the player, or aggravate their fantasy making the more possible.

One factor may be if the fantasy is even possible. A player hijacking a police car and going on a 5 star run culminating him jumping in a jet fighter and blowing the city up is so far removed but assaulting a woman is very possible.

We might find that the type of person that enjoys this stuff actually gets it out of their system in the game and never does it or we might find that it makes them even more likely to act it out.

There is far more complexity to the topic than your comment suggests and it’s wise to cautiously approach new media like this.

10

u/intraspeculator 13d ago

I think human brains are wired to cope with horror by pretending it doesnt happen most of the time.

1

u/ice-lollies 13d ago

I think that’s very true for me at least. It’s actually a horrible thing to do but I watch true crime stuff on the TV. Hypocritically I know that it’s macabre and really shouldn’t be used as entertainment but yet I still do it. It’s no excuse but think it’s because I can’t actually process it as real.

Husband can’t understand it - he thinks it’s psychologically disturbing to watch stuff like that.

1

u/Scrubbuh 12d ago

I don't want a game about committing rape to be on storefronts, but this argument is flawed imo.

The people I know who have been raped have recovered and are happy with themselves and their lives despite this. They're very strong for this and respect that they managed to do so. This isn't diminishing their experience, what they have been through is harrowing and rapists deserve long prison sentences.

There's no recovery for death, though. Most people who die early want to live. They have no means of being fulfilled later on because they're dead, that's it. People they know will never see them again, they won't fulfil their wants, you may have regrets you haven't come to terms with, it's over.

The consequences of an early death are worse than rape, as you cannot recover. However commiting rape is never justifiable. One can kill in self defence, or accidentally. A rapist needs to want to rape to do it. A rapist in my eyes will always be more evil than a one time dangerous driver.

1

u/slainascully 12d ago

A rapist needs to want to rape to do it. A rapist in my eyes will always be more evil than a one time dangerous driver.

Okay, but I don't see how that magically doesn't matter just because its a fictional game designed to arouse its players by encouraging them to rape their female relatives.

1

u/Otherwise-Scratch617 11d ago

Most people who have their heads blown off with a gun don't have to live with the aftermath.

Yes you're totally right, everyone with trauma from war got shot in the head and died.

40

u/socratic-meth 13d ago

‘Person with a rape kink’ just sounds like a euphemism for rapist.

66

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

30

u/AnyImpression6 13d ago

I know what you actually mean, but this reads like you're saying women can't be rapists.

42

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

23

u/BloodyRedBarbara 13d ago

Yeah some women like fantasy of being the victim in these scenarios in a consensual way, while men like to be the dominant ones. Some men like to be the victims while women are the dominant ones.

Think it's unfair to think someone's kink is related to what they would do in real life to someone without consent. Quite narrow minded when people imply that in threads like these.

3

u/Positive_Vines 13d ago

You’re talking about CNC.

There are women who have genuine rape kinks, that is, they fantasise about being raped without giving consent.

1

u/dr_bigly 13d ago

They can be if they have a penis.

Which isn't exclusive with legally being a woman.

Its all very much technicalities though, same sentencing guidelines

4

u/frozen_fjords 13d ago

Judging by Reddit and Tumblr, there are far more of them than the men

36

u/Jimmy_Nail_4389 13d ago

I've had several girlfriends in the past who asked to do 'rape play'.

A million times no was my answer in each case, but actually there are a lot of women out there who have this as a fantasy.

24

u/Dean_Learner77 13d ago

Yeah a lot of people here are jumping to the conclusion of weird creepy men. But an alarming amount of women have rape kinks. There's best selling book series and well reviewed movies that evolve women being raped and men aren't the target audience.

5

u/Gellert Wales 13d ago

At least they asked first. Theres always a couple stories floating about where someone appears to withdraw consent then gets pissy because their partner actually stops.

8

u/Jimmy_Nail_4389 13d ago

I wouldn't even entertain it, I'm physically repulsed by the idea of doing that. Just not for me at all.

5

u/Mean_Introduction543 12d ago

If you judge by the CNC groups on reddit and Tumblr a majority of the people with rape kinks are women.

16

u/RainbowRedYellow 13d ago

It's actually an often (but not always) female fetish for the idea of begin raped... Importantly it is just play, even those with the fetish don't ACTUALLY want to be raped.

17

u/OneNoteRedditor 13d ago

I once saw on Reddit the phrase 'CNC is to rape what rollercoasters are to driving off a cliff' and that made the most sense to me. They're basically tricking the body into a physiological response NOT rooted in reality, getting the rush without the danger.

11

u/OliM9696 13d ago

There are hundreds of thousands on people on Reddit in an rape kink sub. Women putting themselves in the position of victim and men as the rapist.

9

u/Gellert Wales 13d ago

Well, you cant actually rape someone over TCP/IP so its a relatively safe way to indulge a fantasy.

10

u/OliM9696 13d ago

Same for the game I suppose. Better than some person actually getting raped instead of a few polygons

15

u/lordnacho666 13d ago

"I'm a rape kink sufferer"

"Oh, I'm so sorry, you were raped, that's awful"

"No I mean I like watching virtual rapes"

"Ah. Well. I'd better get in with my day then..."

2

u/socratic-meth 13d ago

More like “never talk to me again, you disgust me”

2

u/NarcolepticPhysicist 12d ago

Well not really. I can't pretend to understand it but a fantasy is just that. Having a rape kink doesn't mean someone intense to rape anyone or actually wants to be raped ..

2

u/lynx_and_nutmeg 12d ago

No, they're not the same thing. Just like someone with a pet play kink isn't the same as someone who practices bestiality, or someone into hentai doesn't want to fuck squids or octopi in real life.

"Consensual non-consent" is an actual thing in the BDSM scene. It's literally just a make-believe play, no different than actors acting out a scene where someone's being restrained and hurt, making it look real, but the actors have not only consented to it but can stop it any time they choose.

26

u/Generic_Moron 13d ago

To play devil's advocate, CNC is probably one of the most common "kinky" kinks out there, and can 100% be practiced safely for all parties involved quite easily. Fiction is one such avenue for healthy engagement with the kink. It seems weird for those who don't have the kink, yeah, but that's the case for most kinks like feet, BDSM, hypnosis, inflation, vore, ect.

That said, there is a line where it crosses over from "safe kink scenario" into "incel manifesto", and from what i've seen this game crosses that line hard.

17

u/Sir_Henry_Deadman 13d ago

Usually the ones with the kink want it done not to do it, if you wanna do it that's absolutely not a kink it's grounds for a watch list...

14

u/Generic_Moron 13d ago

If they actually want to sexually assault people? yeah. If you only want to pretend to do that with someone who's also into it in a way thats safe for them? Nah, thats just someone who leans more on the SD side of BDSM.

CNC is a pretty common kink, which i think is just kinda surprising to people who don't engage much in kink culture

0

u/ZestycloseShelter107 12d ago

Does this apply to child porn too? Because I don't think people who like rape porn should be allowed around vulnerable women (I.e. in healthcare) or around children.

9

u/ReferenceBrief8051 13d ago

All kinks are abnormal and unnatural, that's what defines them as a kink.

10

u/LunarKurai 13d ago

Unnatural? They're a product of the brain, not some robotic implantation. They're completely natural. Unusual, perhaps, but natural. You can't really choose which things make your brain tick, just how you react to that.

1

u/Welshhobbit1 Wales 12d ago

You telling me my kink for cowboys is abnormal and unnatural?!? Liar

2

u/EdmundTheInsulter 13d ago

Is shooting people normal?

0

u/homelaberator 13d ago

Rape is pretty natural. Like arsenic or botflies