Capcom’s upcoming horror title, Dead Rising, has been banned in Germany after the German software rating organization (USK) found the game too gory to be released at all.

Dead Rising is now the first Xbox360 game to be banned in any country. From a USK representative:

"Dead Rising received No Rating (Keine Kennzeichnung) by the USK. The USK and the OLJB cannot rate games when there is a potential risk of banning, Because if a game has a Rating, it can’t be banned afterwards (when released). So the USK checks in advance, If certain criteria of the Bundesprüfstelle are met, no Rating can be given."

Normally, in cases like this, developers would simply tone down the content of the game depending on the country’s rating system. However, with Dead Rising, it’s not that easy, since the whole game is based around ‘hack and slash’ gameplay.

The game is still listed on the German Xbox site, but it’s highly unlikely it will be released unless drastic changes are made.