Childline and NSPCC condemn 'unacceptable' Detroit: Become Human

UK newspaper The Mail On Sunday is stirring up controversy around upcoming PS4 exclusive Detroit: Become Human.

The paper has obtained quotes from Childline, NSPCC and the Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, who have called for the upcoming title, developed by Quantic Dream, to be banned from the UK due to its depiction of domestic violence.

Ignoring the many films, books and even music that deal with violence against children, Dame Esther told the right wing paper: "Violence against children is not entertainment. It's not a game. It's a real nightmare for thousands of children who have to live through these kinds of scenarios. The makers of this game should be thoroughly ashamed. I think it's perverse. Who thinks beating a child is entertainment?"

Andy Burrows, who is the associate head of child safety online at the NSPCC, also said: "Any video game that trivialises or normalises child abuse, neglect or domestic violence for entertainment is unacceptable."

The statement stems from the October trailer for the game, which starred the AI Kara, a violent father and a child whose survival depends on the choices made by the player.

Conservative MP Damian Collins, who is Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, said: "It is completely wrong for domestic violence to be part of a video game regardless of what the motivation is. Domestic violence is not a game and this simply trivialises it. I worry that people who play this who themselves have suffered abuse will use this game to shape the way in which they deal with abusers.

"It's dangerous to plant the seed in people's minds that the way to deal with abusers is to use violence against them. It's counter-productive and could put them in even more danger.

Defending the controversial trailer at the time, Quantic Dream founder David Cage told Eurogamer: "You don't choose to talk about domestic abuse. It's not like I was like 'oh, let's write a scene about domestic abuse'. It's not how it works. When you're a writer you talk about things that move you, that you feel really deep inside you that's something that moves you, and you hope it'll move people too. You know there are two ways you can do this - 'oh let's do something cool and let's have someone beaten by a man', that's one way of doing things, because people are going to write about it and it's going to sell my game. That's one way of doing it.

"The other way is to say I'm working on something important, something meaningful and something moving. There's a meaning behind it, there's a strong story I need to tell - it goes through dark moments, but I think the story I have to tell it as it's something important for me. And I think when you do this, you do your work as an author, you do your work as a writer. You go into dark places, in order to create something positive about it. It's never a conscious decision to say let's talk about something cool and violence - no, I want to talk about something moving and meaningful, that's my job as a writer. I'm the first judge, and I hope that people will feel the same."