Games aren’t only entertainment; they’re also a form of expression. How players choose to go about in their favourite games is their business, as long as they don’t infringe on the rights of other players. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn’t seem to understand this, or if it does, doesn’t seem to put much stock in it. This explains why one Baldur’s Gate 3 player has received a one-year ban on the Xbox platform.
Baldur’s Gate 3 stands as one of the most impressive feats in the realm of game development. Nothing ever feels out of place or gratuitous, and that includes nudity. At the beginning of the game, players are allowed to toggle nudity and other explicit elements of the game on and off, a feature that remains active throughout gameplay. However, Xbox draws the line when it comes to sharing such content.
One Xbox player going by the nom de guerre Daddy-Vegas learned this the hard way.
As it so happens, capturing a screenshot or recording a video featuring nudity and other explicit content is a violation of Xbox’s rules and regulations.
Clueless about this, Daddy-Vegas’ recordings that featured nudity were automatically uploaded to Microsoft’s servers, triggering an auto-ban lasting a whole year. To make matters worse, Daddy-Vegas had no intention of sharing these clips. As such, the hapless player is appealing the suspension, which he hopes will rule in his favor.
Honestly, it’s ridiculous that Microsoft would ban a player for recording a game clip, nudity or not. Once a player purchases a game, it stands to reason that they should have full control over the game. Some of the most watched clips of any number of games uploaded on YouTube feature extreme violence (looking at you, Mortal Kombat). So, why is nudity a problem for Microsoft?
Even if a game bears explicit content as fan service, I don’t see the problem if a player wants to capture and relive this moment. Isn’t this part of the larger problem of digital game ownership? In any case, if Microsoft is worried about NSFW content making its way to an unintended audience, why not designate it with an NSFW or mature tag?
If Xbox is really that fussy about players recording nudity, then it should simply stop giving players games with explicit content. Then we’ll see how that bodes for their sales.
I won’t go as far as saying this puts a stain on Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox, but it certainly makes the game’s launch on the platform thorny. If Microsoft can manage to fix these issues, maybe, just maybe, it can give Xbox players an experience that matches Baldur’s Gate 3 on PlayStation 5.
