Horror has always been a genre that pushes boundaries and challenges societal norms, making them no stranger to controversy. Some horror games have ventured into territories so controversial that they sparked legal battles, government enquiries and outright bans.
Controversy often arises from the intensely dark and violent themes that horror games explore. Many critics and lawmakers argue that the explicit violence within these games carry moral and ethical implications, and fuel concerns about potential influences on players, particularly the younger audience.
Studios and publishers commonly refute such claims, stating that their games are purely for entertainment purposes, target a mature audience, and have no impact on real-world violent behaviour. As such, the debate on violent video games is still ongoing.
This article takes a look at 5 of the most controversial horror games of all time.
Saw: The Video Game (2009)
Saw: The Video Game is a third-person survival horror game, based upon the Saw movie franchise The game’s story follows Detective David Tapp as he tries to escape an insane asylum, filled with Jigsaw traps and enemies trying to kill him.
It’s unsurprising that this game received large controversy, seeing as the movie franchise has received pushback and criticism due to its overly graphic and violent traps. The game is no different, with brutally violent traps such as the iconic reverse bear trap, the iron maiden and the impaler trap.
Several critics took aim at Saw: The Video Game, claiming that the violence was sadistic and tasteless. Despite this, the game surprisingly did not face any censorship restrictions publisher and Konami released a sequel a year later, Saw II: Flesh & Blood, with similar levels of violent content.
Silent Hill: Homecoming (2008)
Silent Hill: Homecoming is the sixth instalment of the survival horror series Silent Hill. Players control a soldier returning to his hometown to find that it is in disarray, and his father and brother have gone missing. As he explores the nightmarish town, he battles grotesque monsters and confronts his disturbing past.
Silent Hill is one of the most famous and successful horror game series, narrowly missing out on the top 10 best-selling horror game franchises.
Whilst the franchise has never shied away from violent or graphic depictions, the Australian and German classification boards decided that the Homecoming had gone too far. Because of a few violent scenes involving bisection and excessive blood, the developers had to reduce the game’s violence to be approved for release.
In Frankfurt Germany, any imported copies of the uncensored versions were confiscated via court order.
Rule of Rose (2006)
Rule of Rose, a Japanese psychological survival horror game, delves into the twisted narrative of a woman kidnapped by a cliquey group of girls at a 1930s orphanage. She must endure a nightmarish journey filled with torture, abuse, and trauma to climb the ranks of the group’s hierarchical class system. On this list, Rule of Rose definitely stands out for its thought-provoking and compelling plot.
The game originally released in Japan, but its European release is what sparked mass controversy. Rumours began to circulate surrounding the game’s content, stemming from a plagiarised and inaccurate review. Due to the young age of the game’s antagonists, the violence and darker themes made the game stand out from other horror titles at the time.
Several European Union lawmakers presented bills to ban the game’s release in Europe, and distinct bills were brought forward in France and Poland. Nevertheless, the game did end up releasing throughout most of Europe.
In the UK, the media had sensationalised many false narratives about the game’s in-game content which were ‘completely made up’. This led to the decision to not release the game in the UK. The Australian distributor of Rule of Rose also pulled out, cancelling the game’s release in Australia and New Zealand.
Night Trap (1992)
Night Trap is an interactive movie where the player watches live surveillance footage of a sleepover featuring teenage girls. The player must protect these women, as they are unaware that the house is infested by vampires.
The controversy surrounding Night Trap was related to the game’s mixture of sexually suggestive content and violence. The game was panned by critics for the promotion of violence against women.
The controversy reached a pivotal moment when the game became a focal point during a 1993 United States congressional hearing. Congresspeople discussed Night Trap’s and Mortal Kombat’s impact on the youth. This hearing caused several retailers including Toys R Us to pull the game from their shelves. The following year, Sega stopped publishing new copies of the game.
The fallout from the congressional hearing also led to the establishment of the ESRB rating system for video games.
Manhunt (2003)
The stealth-based horror game Manhunt is arguably one of the most infamous and controversial horror games ever released. In Manhunt, players control a death row inmate who is forced to commit brutal execution-style murders.
Manhunt sparked insane levels of controversy in the 2000s. This was both due to the extreme levels of graphic violence, as well as the fact that players directly control the killer. At least in Saw and Silent Hill, you don’t play as the villain.
There were a number of countries that censored or banned the game, including Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the UK, where Rockstar was almost taken to court due to the game’s (wrongful) implication in a real-life murder.
However, the controversy did not stop Rockstar Games from releasing a sequel 4 years later – Manhunt 2. The sequel was originally refused classification in the UK and Ireland, but eventually received an 18+ rating. In the United States, the game was classified as Adults Only, which would bar the game’s release on most consoles. In response, Rockstar had to blur some executions, and remove the scoring system which rewarded the most brutal kills.
Manhunt certainly left a profound legacy on the horror genre and pushed the levels of violence allowed in games to the next level. Rockstar continued to release games that broke the status quo and stirred controversy, notably Bully and Grand Theft Auto.
And there we have it: the most controversial horror video games of all time. It’s not an expansive list, as controversial games are still releasing to this very day. For example, 2023’s Christmas Massacre horror game is undergoing some controversy at the time of writing. It has just been revealed that Microsoft and Nintendo have denied the port of the game to their consoles. The companies attribute this to the extreme violent content, whereas the developer Puppet Combo said that the game was just “too crazy” for them.