At least one player has been suspended from PlayStation Network for sharing a screenshot of explicit content found in Ubisoft’s recently released game Watch Dogs 2. The screenshot in question features a dead NPC laying on the sidewalk with her more explicit bits exposed and visible under her skirt.
It should be noted that the game itself was released with a mature rating for sexual themes and nudity, among other things. But a user being banned for sharing an unaltered image from a game highlights potential issues and inconsistancies with how Sony handles explicit content on its platform.
Today, Ubisoft released a statement to Game Informer in response to both the explicit NPC model and the suspension the player is facing for sharing adult content featured in the game.
“We’re aware that one of the NPC models in Watch Dogs 2 is rendered in a way that is particularly explicit. While Watch Dogs 2 is a mature-rated game, we apologize and will update this NPC model to make it more consistent with other NPC models in the game in a patch to be released this week."
"We also are working with our first-party partners to ensure that players can continue to play and share all content from the game within the bounds of the first parties’ respective codes of conduct.”
The player in question, NeoGAF user Goron2000, was contacted by Sony via email shortly after sharing a screenshot of the NPC to Twitter via the PS4's built-in share capabilities. He was told that he had been suspended for sharing “content of an adult or sexual nature.” Initially, the suspension kept him from accessing PlayStation Network features for one week. Today, Sony extended the suspension to one month.