Youtube eases restrictions on game-related violence

Videos featuring ‘scripted or simulated’ violence may no longer be age-restricted.

Youtube’s policies on violent or graphic content are clear: “Violent or gory content intended to shock or disgust viewers, or content encouraging others to commit violent acts are not allowed on Youtube.” It goes on from there, but that lays out the basics pretty clearly. It also opens the door to confusion and conflicts. What happens, for instance, when the “gory content intended to shock” rule runs up against, well, this?

Youtube has therefore taken steps to get in front of that by updating its policies to differentiate between the real bloodletting it wants to keep off the platform, and the fun stuff in videogames that makes up a significant portion of its content.

Effective December 2, “scripted or simulated violent content found in video games will be treated the same as other types of scripted content,” Youtube said in a policy enforcement update. The change means that future uploads featuring scripted or simulated violence may be approved rather than age-gated, and that gaming-related content will face fewer violence-related restrictions overall.