Red Faction No Longer Considered Harmful to Germany's Youth

THQ Nordic announced today that Red Faction is now officially available to buy in Germany, following its removal from the country's list of games considered to be "damaging" to the country's youth.

Germany's Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons has removed the game from its "index" of titles that also included Fallout 3 until it was removed from the list in February.

"At THQ Nordic, we were aware of the implications of this momentous decision, and needed to adopt a bold approach." THQ Nordic publishing director Jans Binsmaier said in a statement.

The company added that it took "numerous discussions, tact, and some skillful powers of persuasion" to have Red Faction removed from the index.

Binsmaier went on to say that THQ Nordic, which is based on Vienna, anticipates further discussions with the government group about having some of its other games removed from the index. Following its acquisition of THQ brands like Red Faction, Darksiders, and MX vs. ATV, THQ Nordic now says it has more than 350 games in its portolfio, though it's not clear which other ones may be banned in Germany.

"[We] will do our utmost to ensure that gamers can play our games in future," Binsmaier said. "We can still celebrate 'small' successes like this even a decade later!"

Red Faction and Fallout 3 are not the first high-profile game to be banned or edited in Germany. In the German version of Wolfenstein: The New Order, Nazis are called "The Regime" and no Swastikas are shown. The German government lifted its ban on Doom in 2011 after 17 years.

In August, Nordic Games announced that it had rebranded itself as THQ Nordic.