Super Seducer blocked from release on PlayStation 4
The BBC has claimed that Sony "banned" the controversial seduction game
Sony Interactive Entertainment has prevented the controversial game Super Seducer from being released on PlayStation.
Super Seducer was due to launch for PlayStation 4 this week, but it failed to appear on the PlayStation Network. Sony stated only that the game "will not be made available" on the platform, but the BBC has, "confirmed the Japanese company banned the title."
RLR Training's game, which is pitched as "the world's most realistic seduction simulator", has been the subject of controversy and debate ever since it launched its crowdfunding campaign in September last year. Kickstarter decided to suspend the campaign for "inappropriate content" after seven days, at which point it had raised $25,300.
"We have been discriminated against many times as a company that teaches men seduction skills," founder Richard La Ruina said in a press release at the time. "It's very hard for us to buy advertising on google or Facebook, to receive positive press, or to get publishing or content deals."
La Ruina continued: "We spent a few thousand dollars marketing the campaign, creating the trailer, and running ads. We are very disappointed in Kickstarter for their decision, which we see as discrimination against our business - teaching men dating skills.
"We will not appeal and instead will put thism atter [sic] behind us and look forward to a successful launch in four month's time."
La Ruina stressed that Super Seducer featured no nudity or violence, but that hasn't prevented the game's PlayStation launch from being blocked. Speaking to the BBC, La Ruina said he expected "a small segment of the population to take issue" with the game.
"[It] has received a lot of negative coverage from people who have never played the game... They want to brand it sleazy, sexist, misogynistic, and even 'rapey'. I found it all very aggressive and not at all helpful."
According to Steam Spy, Super Seducer has been played by more than 2,300 people since it launched on Valve's platform on March 6.