UK Prime Minister Calls For In-Game Knife Ban

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has spoken of his desire to stop video game designers from enabling playable characters to use knives, following continued public concern over both rising knife crime and the effects of video games violence in the UK. Brown has already voiced his concern over video game violence and has encouraged the ongoing Byron Review, into the effects of games on children. His latest comments come in an interview with tabloid newspaper The Sun, which details Brown’s plans for a “zero tolerance” approach towards youths caught carrying knives in problem areas. The story is in part illustrated by a screenshot of Rockstar’s Manhunt, with the main character wielding a large butcher’s knife. However, no further details are given on how the government might seek to intervene in terms of determining games content. Notably though, both the Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt series are primarily developed in Brown’s native Scotland. “I am very worried about video and computer games,” said Brown to The Sun. “No one wants censorship or an interfering State. But the industry has some responsibility to society and needs to exercise that.”