Windows 8 Marketplace will not sell 18-rated games

Microsoft’s own guidelines for the Windows 8 Marketplace will prevent the sale of 18 rated games, it has been confirmed.

Kotaku has had confirmation directly from Microsoft that new rules regarding the sale of apps WILL apply to all games sold through the portal.

Specifically, the guidelines read: Apps with a rating over or PEGI 16, ESRB Mature, or a corresponding rating under other ratings systems are not allowed.”

This shouldn’t cause much of an issue in the US where very few titles receive anything beyond a Mature rating, but in Europe it could potentially lock out a litany of he market’s best sellers.

PEGI 18-rated games include Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim, Mass Effect 3, Deux Ex and The Walking Dead.

Although such titles can easily be obtained from other outlets, of course, any games not officially Windows endorsed will lack some of Windows 8’s newer functionality, unless of course publishers submit a toned-down censored version for Microsoft’s portal.