The deadline is approaching. Initially scheduled for fall 2025, the long-awaited grand theft car 6 (GTA 6), the new installment of the action video game series, will finally be available on May 26.
In just under eight months, fans of the title often presented as the most anticipated game of the decade will be able to go to stores and, above all, share excerpts from their performances on social networks. A phenomenon anticipated by YouTube.
Realistic videos affected
The Google platform announced in a blog post on Tuesday, October 28, the update of its policy on graphic violence. The goal? Limit young users’ access to more content containing video game scenes that contain “explicit violence.”
Starting November 17, accounts of users under 18 years of age and those not logged into their profile will no longer be able to view game videos that feature “realistic human characters” involved in scenes of “mass violence against civilians” or torture.
A retroactive policy
Until then, dramatized or fictional sequences were only prohibited if “the viewer did not have sufficient context to understand that the sequences were dramatized or fictional,” YouTube support specifies.
To choose whether or not to restrict content, YouTube will take into account a multitude of factors. Among them, the duration of the violent scene, its importance in the video, the realism of the characters. To avoid having their videos restricted, content creators will have to be more vigilant. For example, they can blur scenes of explicit violence.
Videos posted before November 17 may also be affected by this update. “Any content uploaded before November 17 that violates these rules may be removed or have an age restriction, but will not result in a warning. Remember that age-restricted videos can remain on your channel for audiences over 18 years old,” the company reminds.
This policy also extends to content related to online gambling, a sector especially monitored by YouTube. Videos promoting games with items of monetary value, including digital products such as skins (accessories to customize a character’s aesthetic, editor’s note) or NFTs, are affected, for example.
Source: BFM TV
