SouthPeak Interactive will not strip morphine references fromVelvet Assassinaccording to an e-mail interview withMTV Multiplayer. Refusing to do so is a decision that will impact the game’s global sales. Most territories refuse to admit that drugs are what all the cool kids are abusing nowadays.
Marketing manager at Southpeak Aubrey Norris defended the usage of the drug with the game’s World War II context. She argued that it was “widely used” during the period and it “fits the realism of the game…” She also added that by keeping morphine in the game, SouthPeak was preserving the developer’s “artistic integrity.”
Morphine use inVelvet Assassinslows down time, allowing the protagonist to kickAgentNazi ass likeTrinitya quick ninja.
However valid, Norris’s points won’t be heard by indifferent ratings boards like the AOFLC in Australia. The body famously banned Bethesda’sFallout 3forits naughty references. The developer then swapped real drug names with fake ones and got it through. SouthPeak woud have to do the same to have a chance.
