Original logo
The viral survival horror title Dead Island finds itself at the center of another headline, this time concerning the game’s logo. The original title screen featured the outline of a hanged man making the “I” portion of the title, something that ESRB restrictions wouldn’t allow for box art in the States. Publisher Deep Silver has since confirmed to IGN that the logo has been changed to feature a standing zombie in place of the hanged man. The contents of the actual game have not been changed.
Censored logo
“The video game industry has set guidelines about the types of content that are appropriate in advertising and marketing materials, which includes game box art. According to those guidelines the depiction in the logo was not compliant,” said the ESRB in a statement.
“We never censor or dictate in any way what type of content can be included within a game. However, a game’s marketing materials are seen by an audience that is much broader than that which actually purchases the game itself, so we enforce industry-adopted guidelines as to what is suitable for inclusion in these materials.”
Is a hanged man that bad for retail shelves? Or is the change necessary for general public retailers? Give us your responses below, E-Gs!