Computing giant Microsoft’s newest version of Windows has been slammed by critics before it has even come out – for banning their own popular games.
Windows 8 will be released on October 26, but games developers are already complaining about it, because Microsoft have included a clause banning all ‘adult’ content from their internal app store.
The Windows Store forbids any 18-certificate product being sold, which includes many of the most popular computer game franchises, including Borderlands, Call of Duty, Max Payne, and Microsoft’s own Gears of War.
Developers have been hit with the tough choice of either spending thousands of pounds to remove adult content for their games so they can receive a lower rating, or lose thousands of pounds in sales by their games being banned from the newest version of Windows.
The massively popular PC Game of the Year 2011, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, will not be available on the Windows 8 App store, despite selling millions of units.
The contract that Microsoft have made developers sign explicitly states that any game rated over 16 will not be allowed.
It says: “Your app must not contain adult content, and metadata must be appropriate for everyone.
“Apps with a rating over PEGI 16, ESRB MATURE, or that contain content that would warrant such a rating, are not allowed.”
The stringent guidelines also ban apps that glamourises or encourages illegal activity, irresponsible use of alcohol, tobacco products, drugs or weapons, and any swearing.
Microsoft’s stringent rules would mean one of Microsoft’s most highly-regarded games, violent shooter Gears of War 3, would be banned, despite selling more than three million copies in the first week it was released.
