Retail giant Target is really ramming home its staunchly held “family friendly” image at the moment, more so than usual.
In what appears to be a move to further keep R-Rated games out of the hands of children, the company has apparently begun stocking all of the R-Rated games in plain packaging.
A post made to gaming forum NeoGAF shows a Target display shelf full of R-Rated games with the regular covers replaced by simple, generic photocopied covers.
The decision would be one made purely by Target and store policy, and is not reflective of the classification legislation for video games in Australia, which makes no mention of cigarette-style plain packaging.
Target has long held a strained relationship between its operations and “mature” or “adult” gamers, with the retailer making headlines two years ago for pulling all copies of Grand Theft Auto V from its shelves after a torrent of complaints from concerned customers.
At the time, the company issued a statement justifying the decision thusly:
“We’ve been speaking to many customers over recent days about the game, and there is a significant
level of concern about the game’s content. We’ve also had customer feedback in support of us selling the game, and we respect their perspective
on the issue. However, we feel the decision to stop selling GTA5 is in line with the majority view of our customers.”
PEDESTRIAN.TV has reached out to Target Australia and is awaiting further clarification and comment on the matter.
UPDATE: Kotaku Australia is now reporting that the move was confined to a single store in South Australia, and that the packaging was not reflective of Target Australia’s national store policy.
The move, bizarrely enough, also complies with South Australia’s “unique” R18+ laws, which require either plain packaging, OR all R-rated games be placed in their own specified, distinctly signed shelving section.
