Twitch has just made an announcement that might disappoint some, as well as receive nods of approval from many – it looks like Twitch users will no longer be able to stream games that have been rated as Adults Only (AO), and the AO rating would have to be issued by the ESRB, of course. Certain quarters would have seen this move to be a curious one, especially after it was purchased in the previous year by Amazon for $970 million.
This particular ban would not have too much effect, actually, especially when you take into consideration how just a handful of games pick up an Adults Only rating, the whole rationale behind this is to stop folks from streaming Hatred. Hatred is a title that will arrive tomorrow for those who have already placed a pre-order beforehand, while those who haven’t would have to wait for an additional week before being able to get hold of a copy of the game.
Hatred has definitely drawn its fair share of media attention mainly because of its shock value, as well as it being an icon for quarters who happen to have strong feelings concerning censorship. The ESRB’s website does not have any listing for Hatred at the moment though, although the game’s developers have already mentioned earlier in the year that the title picked up an AO rating.