Home Secretary hails victory for LBC after vile rape and incest game pulled from download in UK

10 April 2025, 09:20 | Updated: 10 April 2025, 11:44

The following story contains reference to sexual assault, violence against women and misogyny.

The Home Secretary has hailed LBC's efforts getting a video game which touts itself as an "incest and non-consensual sex" simulator banned in the UK.

Yvette Cooper told Nick Ferrari this morning: “Can I first pay tribute to LBC for campaigning on this and for identifying this vile game.

“I’ve heard it described and it is truly appalling.

“Thank you to LBC for highlighting this.

“That sort of vile material is already currently illegal. We have stronger powers being brought in as part of the online safety act to make sure that platforms of all kinds meet certain standards.

Home Secretary thanks for LBC for helping to get 'rape simulator' game banned

“Those powers are being rolled out at the moment.”

She called for gaming platforms and social media platforms to ‘show some responsibility.’

The computer game "No Mercy" centres around a male protagonist who is encouraged to "become every woman's worst nightmare", and "never take no for an answer."

The game launched on Steam last month and is described by its own developers as containing violence, incest, blackmail, and what they describe as "unavoidable non-consensual sex."

After LBC revealed it was still available on Steam in the UK, it emerged that Australian and Canadian officials had swiftly made it unavailable for download.

Efforts to have the game removed in Australia were spearheaded by campaign group Collective Shout who wrote to the country’s regulator as well as launching a global petition.

Earlier - the technology secretary Peter Kyle told LBC he was "deeply worried" about it and that Steam, which has millions of users, must take it down.

Officials in Australia pulled it for being ‘unclassified’.

A spokesman for Australia’s department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts said: “The computer game, No Mercy, is unclassified and has now been removed from sale from the Steam platform in Australia.

”After a public backlash the game was also removed from Steam in Canada after less than 24 hours.

Read more: Fury over rape and incest game that tells players to be 'women's worst nightmare', as Tech Secretary slams PC giant

Read more: Australia and Canada pull rape and incest game that tells players to be 'women's worst nightmare'

Pepe Di'Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School of College Leaders told LBC: “Just copy Australia. Australia seems to have got a grip on this, they seem to have acted swiftly.

"They realise they have to protect young people who are at the heart of this… I think that we’ve got a game of tennis taking place between Ofcom and tech companies, what we’re seeing is people blaming one another.

"Let’s get the legislation doing what it should do and let’s make sure we can protect the young people who are most at threat from this right now.”

Speaking to LBC prior to the game's removal, Farah Naz said she is "disappointed" the government has failed to remove the game.

She expressed her shock that the game exists, saying it "is born out of deep misogyny and toxic masculinity."

"There's a direct link between misogynistic content and real-world violence. We know that we can't keep acting surprised when hatred online leads to offline harm and violence."

"Somebody needs to have the power, don't they? To [remove it], somebody needs to have the power to act," she said.

Farah said: "It's about putting the right the correct regulations in place ... who's overseeing this? How is it being handled? Who's handling it? Who's in charge rather than people passing the buck? One body says yes, we've done it. Oh, and then they haven't done it. And then another body says we don't have the power to do it. Well, that's not really good enough. It means it hasn't been attended to and we need to attend to screen violence as a matter of urgency. Cyber violence leads to street violence."

Farah's niece, 35-year-old Zara Aleena, was murdered as she walked home from a night out in Ilford, east London, in June 2022. Her attacker, Jordan McSweeney, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 38 years after admitting Ms Aleena’s murder and sexual assault.

Farah says swift action to crack down on extreme content online is vital, and any delay "lets women and girls down":  "It's there on the platform, so it's there for people to use. So of course it lets women and girls down. I don't believe that the state wants to let women and girls down, but if we don't move fast with what is happening in the cyber world, then we will have loopholes. And loopholes in systems in process, in regulation lead to serious consequences like murder of women and girls."

She also believes extreme games pose more risk than watching violent TV programmes or movies, due to their interactive nature: "the interactive process puts you in a certain mindset...This is very different to watching a movie, playing a game and acting the part of hurting a woman, it's serious. Playing a game and playing the part of an abuser, acting it out is very different to seeing somebody else do it in a film."

Former Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Nadine Dorries, who championed the Online Safety Bill in its original form, told LBC: "It’s appalling and feeds into the insidious ‘Andrew Tate’ narrative which is taking hold amongst young men who spend too much time online.

"I hate banning things, but sadly, social media has taken us to the place whereby for the protection of children, vulnerable adults and women, we have to: this needs to be removed online, immediately."

Steam hasn't responded to LBC's requests for a comment.