Windows 8 Marketplace will sell 'mature' games after all

Microsoft is changing its guidelines for content on the Windows 8 Markeplace after the original guidelines barred developers and publishers from uploading content rated "mature" onto the store.

Under section 6.2 of the original guidelines, the Windows 8 Marketplace did not give certification to games or apps with a rating over PEGI 16, ESRB Mature or a corresponding rating under other ratings systems. This meant that games like Dishonored, Max Payne 3, Spec Ops: The Line, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and others would not be available in the Marketplace in territories like Europe, where all of the above games are rated PEGI 18.

Speaking to Gizmodo, Windows Corporate VP of Web Services Antoine Leblond said the guidelines will be changed by December.

"It basically ends up disqualifying games that would be ESRB Mature," he said of the original guidelines. In announcing that the guideline changes would be introduced in December, Leblond added: "This is to give developers a heads up that that's where we're going, so they can have the peace of mind around developing the kinds of games that will have those ratings."

The original Windows 8 Marketplace guidelines did not bar users from downloading mature games from services like Steam, Origin or other non-Windows marketplaces.