The lusty school-girl hunting rail "shooter" Gal Gun 2 has been denied age classification by the USK in Germany ultimately preventing its retail release in the country.

In the controversial sequel to the original 2015 Gal Gun: Double Peace (which was also banned in New Zealand but strangely not in Germany), you take the role of a Japanese school boy who becomes the unwavering object of attraction for swarms of daemon-possessed school-girls who you must fend off with your pheromone arrows, putting them in a state of dazed euphoria.

Published PQube commented on the ban:

Today we have received word that Gal*Gun 2 has been refused classification in Germany.

We’ll always try to get games through classification regardless of the possibility of it being denied, as we feel that everyone should have the right and the access to play the games they want to play. It is our opinion that disliking the content in a piece of entertainment or art, and voicing that dislike, is totally fine and even encouraged, but denying that work the right to exist in a market based on personal opinions and prejudices, is something we strongly disagree with.

Unfortunately our appeal against this decision has been unsuccessful. Given that Gal*Gun: Double Peace did receive classification in Germany, we’re doubly disappointed that we cannot bring the highly-anticipated title to our fans in Germany. However, we will have to accept and respect the decision of the USK.

Gal Gun 2 releases on PS4 and Switch on March 15th in Japan and April 27th in Europe and North America.

UPDATE: This discussion has garnered a lot of discussion regarding censorship in Germany and GBAtemp resident member @Uwabami has made a clear and consise post that looks to address some misinformation being thrown around. If you are interested in German censorship I recommend taking the time to read their post on the subject! Thanks @Uwabami !

Uwabami's post on censorship in Germany
Source

 

[Uwabami]

but the dumb thing is Gale Gun Double Piece is rated 16 in germany....why is GG2 Banned? WTF.... that is my question

I just wrote a lengthy explanation:

The USK hasn't published their reasons yet (to my knowledge), but the commenters in this German forum specializing in German censorship are pretty certain it's because of the way minors are depicted in it: https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=13008 (again, German only - sorry). German law is pretty strict on risqué content involving minors, according to §184c StGB it doesn't matter if the depiction is of actual people or just "realistic". So the refusal by the USK to rate Gal Gun 2 was likely because of this.

Also: it's not banned.

 

[Purple_Heart]

not banned but forbidden to sell......shitty too.....GG DP is Age 16....and GG2 not available here....why that......GG DP has "minor characters too" so why thats allowed and AGE 16?

 

[Uwabami]

not banned but forbidden to sell......shitty too.....GG DP is Age 16....and GG2 not available here....why that......GG DP has "minor characters too" so why thats allowed and AGE 16?

Wrong.

A refusal by the USK to grant a rating is not a ban. It merely means games without a rating can't be advertised or sold in places "accessible to minors". There are stores in every city specializing in games like this. It is also not illegal to own such a game. A game may only be banned (and in severe cases even confiscated) if the USK refuses to rate it. In this case, the Federal Review Board for Media Harmful to Minors (BPjM) can decide if this should be done, but only if someone petitions them to do so (they can't start the process on their own).

I haven't played any game of the series, so I can't comment on the content or whats different about GG2. You can still buy it legally in stores or order it online. I doubt that the BPjM will index it...

 

[Purple_Heart]

thats why. GG DP has Minor characters like GG2 will have. thats why i dont understand it

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so i live in Hamburg. but to find such a store is not easy here (Hamburg is very big so i dont know where to find a store that sells those games)

one thing. why is GG DP aged 16 and GG2 not available in public stores.....that is what i am asking myself....why?

 

[Uwabami]

thats why. GG DP has Minor characters like GG2 will have. thats why i dont understand it

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

so i live in Hamburg. but to find such a store is not easy here (Hamburg is very big so i dont know where to find a store that sells those games)

one thing. why is GG DP aged 16 and GG2 not available in public stores.....that is what i am asking myself....why?

Again, I can't comment on the USK decision, because they haven't published it yet to my knowledge - I can only guess. The head of USK changed just last month, so that might have been a factor.

You'll certainly not find it in a department store. Look for dedicated gaming stores - as I said, they can't advertise the games, so you have to specifically ask for them. If you need recommendations for your city, I recommend the forum on https://www.schnittberichte.com (I recommend the site in general )

 

[VitaType]

so i live in Hamburg. but to find such a store is not easy here

Uhm, Hamburg is the only city on this planet where even I have an idea where to begin to search for a weirdo porn game... Somewhere around the Reeperbahn of course.

 

[linuxares]

this game is on switch... great.. another game that is portable that I can't play in public...

Not with that attitude!

 

[sarkwalvein]

You can always play in public, you know, if you are a perv then own it fully. /s

 

[leon315]

I am German. And I visited many historical places in Germany. I even visited Auschwitz. I've been dealing with him pretty much my whole life. But many people still find the need to hide it or try to censor it. If we dont look back on history nothing will change. Afro American people were victims of slavery, but nobody is trying to hide that. For some reason the ww2 topic is just so bad that you cant even talk about it, and if you do, you instantly get called nazi or similiar things. I'm sorry for having knowledge about History, and not wanting to hide the history from others.

it's like japanese's government tried to change historical records, all genocide massacre committed in China, they want people especially the younger generation to forget about ww2, but things seems work different way about banning nazi content rather than refuses to rating weeb games.

 

[Uwabami]

it's like japanese's government tried to change historical records, all genocide massacre committed in China, they want people especially the younger generation to forget about ww2, but things seems work different way about banning nazi content rather than refuses to rating weeb games.

There is no such thing happening in Germany. Censoring Wolfenstein was dumb, yes - but Bethesda did that without being told to do so. The media was very critical of their changes, especially the removal of the suffering of jewish people.

This wouldn't have happened with a movie or a book, and again: our youth learns about the holocaust and WW2 extensively in school. Some classes even visit concentration camps and when I was in school, there were still contemporary witnesses. There is an ongoing effort to preserve the records of them (has been for a long time). Our history channels on TV also run WW2 documentaries all day long. There is a huge memorial site in a very prominent place in our capital among many other places.

There is no history revisionism about WW2 in Germany. We enjoyed Inglourious Basterds just like everyone else did.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Our history channels on TV also run WW2 documentaries all day long.

And really, that's where my ARD/ZDF Rundfunkbeitrag taxes go to. All day long syndicalized WWII documentary reruns /s

(deal with it, nobody likes to pay those taxes)

 

[Uwabami]

And really, that's where my ARD/ZDF Rundfunkbeitrag taxes go to. All day long syndicalized WWII documentary reruns /s

(deal with it, nobody likes to pay those taxes)

It's annoying, but if I watch TV, it's mostly public broadcasting, since the private ones only show trash TV all day long. And I was referring to N24 and n-tv, which are private (part of ProSiebenSat.1 Media and RTL Group respectively).

 

[Purple_Heart]

Uhm, Hamburg is the only city on this planet where even I have an idea where to begin to search for a weirdo porn game... Somewhere around the Reeperbahn of course.

reeperbahn does have sexshops...porn...and other stuff all 18+ but not such a store.

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i knew such a store but it got replaced with a stupid Restaurant