November 4th, 2007

Target removing Manhunt 2 from shelves

Published at 3:22 AM PST

According to EvilAvatar, Target are removing Manhunt 2 off the shelves and are no longer selling them. Take Two have supposedly agreed to take back all unopened copies of the game. Why are they doing this? Here's why:

My contact (an employee but not a manager) was told that it was due in greater part to the unfavorable coverage the game got in the national press the last several days. Target stores had been selling the game since it's launch, but it was only today that they were told to pull the product and refuse further shipments.

But after the ESRB stands firm by the decision for an 'M' rating, looks like some shops don't like the coverage it has been getting [the uncensor hack which was discovered just days ago]. Let's hope other shops don't do the same...

UPDATE (by Jared): Soon after this was posted we received word that Target had update the purchasing page for Manhunt 2 on their website to reflect the game being pulled from shelves, you can see this here on the Manhunt 2 purchasing page under "Availability:". It states:

This item is available online, but is not available in stores.

Note the error with the ESRB rating icon being RP (Rating Pending) where as it should be M (Mature), this strikes me as a little odd in itself, not making people aware of the rating when purchasing online. Seems to me like a bigger issue then selling in store, would probably lead to more trouble too.

Also no word still on if or when Australia will see Manhunt 2. So far we have heard of many Australian's having orders with Rockstar Warehouse and other online stores canceled without explanation. More information on that as it becomes available. Oh and by the way, Hostel 2 is still being sold at Target...Go figure.