Presentation
Invited by Nicolas Jucha of BSmart to his “At Work” segment on video games, Me Chomiac de Sas discussed the surprising success of “Schedule 1,” which recently won a Golden Joystick Award in the “Best Breakthrough” category.
Developed by a single developer, TVGS, Schedule 1 is an open-world management and simulation game where the goal is to manufacture, distribute, and structure the sale of narcotics. Its release was met with overwhelmingly positive reviews and attracted several hundred thousand players.
The game’s theme and mechanics raised the interesting and sensitive issue of regulating video game content. While the law generally focuses on the conditions of development and exploitation of video games, particularly with regard to intellectual property issues, the control of game content can be unusually neglected.
Creating a video game: Can you tell any story, show anything?
While variations exist between countries for political, cultural, or economic reasons, French law is based on a principle of freedom of expression that allows everyone to say what they want, provided that its content is not expressly prohibited by provisions, most often criminal.
Applied to the specifics of Schedule 1 games, it is certain that a video game based on drug trafficking may run up against the information obligations and advertising constraints linked to age restrictions.
The PEGI system and its equivalents, ESRB and CERO, offer a classification of games by age and content – scenes of violence, coarse language, fear and horror, nudity and sex, use of or allusions to drugs, gambling, discrimination, multiplayer features, and in-app purchases.
Video games: Can drugs be promoted in a video game?
Drug promotion. The fight against drug use and trafficking has prompted legislators to also prohibit acts likely to promote or glorify them. The Public Health Code has thus incorporated a specific offense in Article L3421-4, covering several situations. In short, it criminalizes both incitement or encouragement to use or traffic narcotics and their “favorable presentation.” This favorable presentation is interpreted as communication by any means, including print media, visual content, audiovisual media, and video games.
It should be noted that when the offense is committed through print or broadcast media, the specific liability rules applicable to these media apply. Legal and institutional analyses emphasize that works of artistic creation (fiction, film, series) are generally not prosecuted on this basis, unless they adopt a discourse explicitly promoting or advertising drugs.
The legal risk arises primarily if the content adopts a register of explicit promotion or propaganda in favor of narcotics use or trafficking, without critical distance or warnings.
Protection of Minors. Several criminal offenses specifically target the protection of minors, particularly regarding narcotics:
Article 227-18 of the Penal Code punishes anyone who directly encourages a minor to use narcotics, with penalties of up to 5 years imprisonment and a €100,000 fine.
Article 227-19 of the Penal Code punishes any direct incitement of a minor to commit an act of drug trafficking with penalties of up to 7 years imprisonment and a €150,000 fine.
Schedule 1: Video Game Successes with Questionable Content
The success of Schedule 1 is certainly cause for concern given its subject matter. However, like other art forms such as film or literature, the criteria for evaluating a video game are based primarily on artistic and economic elements: art direction, gameplay, playful and entertaining aspects, positive public reception, originality, etc.
Other shocking audiovisual or media content can be celebrated for qualities distinct from certain ethical or social issues. The video game industry is no exception in this regard, with numerous examples of critical content frequently denounced:
The game Doom—representing the contemporary rise of the First-Person Shooter genre, marked by satanic and violent themes—was unfairly associated with the Columbine High School massacre on the pretext that its perpetrators frequently played it.
Mortal Kombat 1, distinguishing itself from its competitors with realistic graphics and cartoonishly absurd, ultra-violent fights, sparked controversy over the depiction and promotion of violence.
The “No Russian” mission in the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 offered players the chance to participate in a mass shooting at a Russian airport, provoking mixed reactions from international censorship.
Video Game Content: How to Control Abuse and Excesses?
It is important to reiterate that France remains committed to broad freedom of expression, particularly through its media, including video games. As such, freedom remains the rule, and prohibition the exception.
Controlling the production of video game content involves co-regulation of the sector by a variety of actors and measures that stabilize its moderation: regulations, including criminal laws, to prevent certain content; industry professionals, studios, and publishers defining the themes they wish to explore, guided by artistic and commercial considerations; players and their choices of interest and consumption; and, more broadly, society and the rest of the population.
As an extension of this co-regulation of the sector, video games can be suspended, removed, or banned at several levels, depending on the actions of different actors: states, private companies (publishers, distribution platforms), and the public.
Animal Crossing, GTA San Andreas, Football Manager: Video Games Blocked by Governments
Often considered radical, government authorities can prohibit the sale or distribution of a game for various reasons: threats to public order, content deemed subversive, political, or morally unacceptable, or non-compliance with local regulations (violence, pornography, propaganda, etc.). In some countries, popular games have been removed or severely restricted because they were perceived as politically sensitive, conveying inappropriate messages, or depicting health or social disasters deemed contrary to the country’s interests (Animal Crossing, Clash of Clans, Plague Inc.).
Steam, Itch.io, Apple Store: Video Games Removed by Sales and Payment Platforms
As mandatory intermediaries in game distribution, publishers and distribution platforms (Steam, Apple’s App Store, Google Play, itch.io, etc.) wield considerable power to suspend or remove games based on contractual grounds. Sometimes, they exercise excessive discretion, relying on their own terms of service, content guidelines, or moderation policies to exclude games deemed to violate their rules (hate speech, pornography, glorification of terrorism, etc.).
The influence of payment providers like Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal should also be noted. When payment or financial processing services deem a catalog non-compliant with their policies (for example, due to sexual or political content considered too sensitive), economic pressure may be exerted to remove or censor content or video games, under threat of losing the ability to invoice and pay developers.
On this subject, the platforms itch.io and Steam are censoring thousands of video games under pressure from payment providers.
Video games shunned or denounced by the public: reporting, boycotts, and controversies.
The public also plays a decisive role in the commercial success or failure of a game. Players can report problematic content using the tools integrated into the platforms (reporting, flagging illegal or offensive content), triggering internal reviews that can lead to temporary or permanent suspension.
Recent cases have shown how a game can find itself at the center of controversy due to particularly shocking scenes (for example, incestuous scenes or the use of contemporary tragic events as game material), forcing platforms to urgently revise their moderation policies or remove the game to protect their image and avoid accusations of complicity.
In November 2024, a video game sparked controversy by allowing players to embody Hamas fighters during the October 7th massacre. Available on the Steam platform, it was blocked in the UK at the request of the UK’s anti-terrorism police.
No Mercy, a video game depicting sexual violence, was removed from the Steam platform following public pressure.
