Baldur’s Gate 3’s Xbox nudity bans are “annoying and uncool”, says dev

Following a series of Xbox bans regarding risqué BG3 game clips, Larian Studios addresses the path to resolving the issue.

[Lightning77]

Agreed big time. It's a stupid thing for MS to do. This tells me their games won't have nudity or sex done in good taste. Yet they allow all the blood shed of Gears games just fine but sex is a extremely taboo.

So backwards and stupid. Well future Xbox games probably won't have more mature themes other than dude bro Gears and Doom types, blood alll day but will ban sex or nudity ... So Much for engaging stories and themes.

MS are screwin up yet again....

[JBlaze226]

The only one that censor games is Sony. Xbox is not censoring anything. Clipping nudity is what is causing this issue but not the game itself.

[Lightning77]

Nope, It's censorship because he got banned for clipping and sharing it across social media.

I ask you this how come they can clip blood and guts from other games but gets slammed for something like nudity. Why is one ok but the other isn't?

[shinoff2183]

I don't think the nudity is censored on ps5 blaze your reaching a bit.

[Flewid638]

What is Sony censoring? I popped in both Cyberpunk and Saints Row last night....both had nudity.

[JBlaze226]

I never said Sony censored nudity. But they have censored some games released on their consoles look up martha is dead. As annoying the auto clip is posting nudity on social media is unnacceptable.

[JBlaze226]

Did any sony players clipped any nude videos and posted on Social media and not get banned? Last I heard they uplifted the ban since then. Even Larian understood.

[shinoff2183]

I agree with you lightning to a point but is all the sex in baldurs gate 3 really done in good taste lol. I don't know as I'm still waiting to be able to buy the physical so I only played the trial on ps but just enough to taste it

[GamerRN]

It's time for Xbox to slow an 18 or over post for screen capture. Have all accounts need verification to get 18 or over content, problem solved

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Mega agreed my friend

[Abnor_Mal]

CENSORSHIP!! I thought this wasn’t a thing of concern on this platform, but then again here it is.

[porkChop]

What? The game isn't being censored and you can still save clips and screenshots. They just don't want you uploading that to the Xbox Live servers. Is it lame? Yeah, absolutely. But it's not censorship.

[dumahim]

Then maybe they shouldn't turn it on by default or limit who can see it on M rated games. But I suppose that means their violent M rated games no longer get the attention, and can't have that.

[Abnor_Mal]

It’s similar to when Sony flagged and took down a video I made of Ratchet and Clank of a cutscene years ago. They give you the ability to make and post videos but then censor you when you use the features of the system.

At least Knack had a solution of disabling any recordings during certain cutscenes of the game.

[Charlieboy333]

So they are actually censoring one of their users and punishing them for 'stepping out of line'. Sooooo much better lol

[Exvalos]

This from a platform that back in the day had a game called BMX XXX, and I'm not kidding.

[purple101]

its high time for another bmx game.

Ubisofts republic of riders might have to get checked out±!

[EvertonFC]

Put in over 60hrs with riders republic, solid game and lots of fun and controller frantic adrenaline moments especially on the bikes 😀 certainly recommend even when chilling taking in the scenery while paragliding etc.

[Profchaos]

Ahh man that was a different era I never got to play it back in the day as Sony blocked it from coming to PS2. Funny they allow leisure suit Larry but not bmx xxx

[bmxdrury]

BMX XXX is on
PS2.

[TheColbertinator]

Nobody expects the Microsoft Inquisition

[anast]

Just give Xbox your money, it's a hustle sim, where you always get hustled.

[P_Bomb]

Finally turned off auto-upload after all the hoopla this week.
1) press the XB button on your controller
2) go right to capture & share
3) go way down to capture settings
4) go down to automatic uploads
5) click don’t upload to the Xbox network

[jznrpg]

I turned off my Xbox during halfway through the 360 days.

[gold_drake]

they are most notably, stupid

[Firebird360]

Its ridiculous. I got banned back when cyberpunk came out for taking pictures of the dead chic in the bathtub. I didnt even realize they were being auto uploaded to the cloud. I didnt post them, the game has nudity, whats the big deal.
But nope I got banned and the pics flagged. Absolutely ridiculous. Microsoft can make, sell and publish games with nudity but God forbid I back the pics up.

[DarXyde]

"The initial issue stems from growing reports of Baldur’s Gate 3 players claiming that Microsoft is slamming down the ban hammer on their accounts, after attempting to upload specific clips of the game to social media. However, as these clips need to adhere to strict guidelines, they are instantly flagged as inappropriate. Furthermore, doing so is applying strikes to Xbox accounts, before leading to complete suspensions."

Alright, so...the game itself and all of its content is allowed on the platform.

...but you'll be banned or have strikes applied to your account(s) if you upload "inappropriate" content?

Help me understand this:
Microsoft, who allowed Baldur's Gate 3 to be published for their platforms in totality without any censorship...has an issue with nudity being uploaded to social media?

I don't really think that's Microsoft's business to be concerned about. They mention that you'll be punished for uploading to social media, so I assume they are taking action on behalf of the social media platforms that probably didn't even complain? If the social media platform doesn't allow it, fine, fair enough. That's their policy outright: no nudity. We know YouTube is strict about this and copyrighted music. What I don't really understand is why Xbox would have a problem? Unless the developers don't want you sharing something (e.g., Persona 5 blocked sharing of cutscenes to social media, but that was to prevent spoilers and was literally in the original vision of the game), Microsoft should be hands off. They can definitely say yay or nay to content that finds its way to their platform, but it just feels weird that (i) you allow the game without any censorship requisites, (ii) there are social media platforms that allow nudity, and (iii) the developers themselves don't take issue with you uploading anything - in fact, they're annoyed that *you can't*.

This just feels like an odd policy. Sony and Nintendo censor games too, but if I recall, that's before it actually hits the platform for purchase. Why would you allow it, then regulate what can be shared and punish you for doing it?

Poor show, Microsoft.

[JBlaze226]

And you think Sony wouldn't do the same thing?

[DarXyde]

I love how you mention Sony here. It's such a lazy, uninspired rebuttal.

Company A does something wrong, so someone is always compelled to say "do you think Company B wouldn't do it?"

Answering honestly, I don't know if they would or would not do the same thing. I have no evidence on this specific issue (and neither do you), but I wouldn't put it past them. Sony is the same company that pulled video content people paid to "own" without any compensation. Would Microsoft do the same thing? Answer is: we don't know. They haven't done much on this specific issue, but again, I wouldn't put it past them.

When plans or actions are done clearly, yes, it's good to call it out. But until then, how is it productive to speculate about whether they would or wouldn't in the same situation? If/when it does happen, it gets called out. Simple.

[JBlaze226]

DarXyde lazy my a$$ because the real answer is they have. I mean Sony actually censor games and you think they wont ban your account if you do the same thing on the ps5?

[DarXyde]

JBlaze226,

Censoring content as a requirement to have it published on your platform and banning someone for uploading content you allowed to be published are two different things.

With that in mind, do you have any evidence for the latter?

I'm not saying you're wrong. Maybe there is some evidence I am not privy to. Do you have anything to support this?

[JBlaze226]

DarXyde,

I can understand censorship but when its censored to one console but not the other is a difference. I always ask that question if one company will do it will the other would do it as well because you never know. Like how games went up to 70, how games start adding battlepass/microtransaction to their games. how games start getting remasters/remakes etc.

But this whole fanboying to one console and trash talking another for something that could happen to their console if that same scenario happen because they have strict guidelines of sharing nude content and sharing and playing games with nudity are two separate things.

When it comes to digital I can say that its all around the same if you pay to buy digital then the risk of it being pulled is likely the same across all platforms and a refund is highly questionable. unless you can buy something with DRM free then it's a gamble.

https://arstechnica.com/gam...

[CrimsonWing69]

It really is.

[H9]

Anime game fans: First Time?

[Juancho51]

Emphasizes what has been said about XBOX Playerbase for so long. Parents get their kids the most cost effective and child friendly console, which is why the system install base is infected with prepubescent children that are annoying to play online games with. Of course parents want to protect their kids and not show nudity, PlayStation and PC are for adults, the Nintendo Switch would do the same thing to “protect the children”.

What a FAIL system, goes to show why PS5 has sold 4x as many units.

[JBlaze226]

and yet Sony actually censor games released on the their console

[Binnsy]

Dev is right