Bethesda’s hit role-playing game Fallout 3 was banned in Germany for mature themes. According to IGN Germany, the publisher states that it will explain why it has worked to get the game unbanned after all this time in two weeks time. The publication believes that the developer may be planning to re-release the game as a PS4 and Xbox One title.
The site reports that Bethesda committed itself towards a “difficult and rarely-successful trial” to get the game unbanned by the Federal Bureau for Media Harmful to Minors (BPjM) in Germany, the country’s censorship board. The game was listed as harmful and thus barred from public consumption for a period of ten years. The trial was to get it de-listed three years ahead of schedule.
The process involved numerous application letters and a cost that ranged several thousand Euros. The publisher won its case against the ban by bringing the game for judgment with delegates from various German community organizations and the censorship board.
IGN Germany reports:
“In the case of Fallout 3 the request for de-listing was granted even though only seven years passed since the game was banned,” the BPjM said in a statement. “The Big Council decided at its meeting on February, 4th that Fallout 3 will be removed from the list because its content is no longer classified as harmful to minors from today’s perspective.”
When the publication asked Bethesda for a statement, they said they would provide answers in two weeks, leading them to speculate that the publisher may have plans to re-release the game as a current-gen title.