Sony is set to implement stricter rules around the sexual content in future PlayStation games.

The company has told the Wall Street Journal that it had created and implemented its own rules around sexually explicit material in games. It has also made it clear that these new rules will even go further than the current rating systems by the ESRB and PEGI.

The Wall Street Journal report that: 

"A Sony spokeswoman confirmed the company has established its own guidelines 'so that creators can offer well-balanced content on the platform' and gaming 'does not inhibit the sound growth and development' of young people..." 

It seems that the company may well be concerned about gaming content which may be perceived as demeaning to women or give gamers the wrong attitude towards the other sex. 

It is also thought that this move is a result of the #MeToo movement and internal fears that the continued sale of sexually explicit games may harm the company's reputation around the world. 

It's not clear what the exact requirements of these new rules are, but it does seem that a number of games have already been impacted. For instance, Kotaku has reported that the PlayStation 4 version of Devil May Cry 5 features a carefully placed lens flare to hide a woman's posterior where the PC and Xbox One versions don't. 

This is an interesting move by Sony as developers may well take a dim view of the platform that will now require extra thought and development time versus creating games for other systems.