Singapore reverses Mass Effect ban

Singapore's Media Development Authority has reversed its earlier decision to ban Mass Effect, and will now allow the game to be released under an M18 rating.

As reported earlier, the Media Development Authority originally decided to ban the game in Singapore due to the inclusion of a sex scene between a human woman and a female alien.

The Board of Film Censors said in a statement that it will selectively use games ratings to "enable highly anticipated games to be launched in Singapore" until it puts a games classification system in place in January.

This will allow games to "enter the market with immediacy" while giving the games industry and members of the public a better understanding of the benefits of the proposed games classification system, the BFC said.

Singapore has previously banned games such as God of War 2 and The Darkness for nudity and religious expletives, but has allowed games with graphic violence to be sold with consumer advisory labels.