Microsoft has revised a policy on the Windows Store that would have barred all games rated Mature by the ESRB. Under these new guidelines, the marketplace will be far more open to adult-focused content.
Windows 8 has taken a lot of flak recently over a policy that banned all apps rated higher than PEGI 16 from the Windows Store, though Microsoft recently decided to revise its regulations to be more inclusive of mature-rated games. Under the original Windows Store policy, games that have earned a PEGI 18 rating in the UK would not be allowed on the proprietary Windows 8 marketplace. That means that major titles such as Skyrim, Max Payne 3, Borderlands 2, and others simply wouldn't be available through the service. Of course, Windows 8 users would still be able to purchase these and other PEGI 18 rated games through Steam or other vendors, but that original policy left an odd gap in the upcoming Windows Store catalog. "[The old policy] basically ends up disqualifying games that would be ESRB Mature," Windows Corporate VP of web services Antoine Leblond told Gizmodo. With the new policy, Microsoft plans to allow those "Mature" games on the Windows Store. Games rated ESRB Adult or games only rated PEGI 18, meanwhile, will still be barred from the marketplace. Gizmodo reports that this new policy will take some time to go into effect. At the moment, Microsoft plans to make the change in December, but until then, games rated higher than PEGI 16 won't be available on the Windows Store (which launches tomorrow, October 26).
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