Rockstar officially appeals Manhunt 2 ban in UK

Rockstar has officially filed the paperwork to appeal the decision made by a UK regulatory committee to effectively ban the title from going on sale in the country.

On June 19, the British Board of Film and Video Classification (BBFC), the organization in charge of handing out video game age ratings, said it refused to give a rating to the game because it was too violent. Specifically, the BBFC said it contained "sustained and cumulative casual sadism," and criticized its "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone."

The group gave Rockstar six weeks to appeal the decision, and it has taken that path. Rockstar's parent company Take Two released a statement that reads, "Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. confirmed today that Rockstar Games has appealed the British Board of Film Classification decision that prohibited the release of any version of Manhunt 2 in Britain."

Gamespot reports that the appeal process works by having Video Appeals Committee chairman John Woods selecting a group of people to sit down and vote on whether the ban should be overturned.

The US equivalent of the BBFC, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), deemed the game required an "Adults Only" rating. This works essentially as the same mark as what the BBFC did, as major retailers do not stock AO games. Nintendo and Sony also do not give licenses to titles with the restrictive rating. The game was planned for a Wii and PS2 release.

Rockstar has said it will do whatever it needs to in order bring the game to the market.