Murder and mayhem can work wonders for an advertising campaign. The ultra-violent sequel to the 2003 action game has a planned release date of Halloween 2007, certain to be a major release thanks to some free publicity. Manhunt 2 originally received an adults only rating form the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board). This rating meant most major retailers would not carry the game as well as Nintendo and Sony not allowing the game on their consoles. The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) refused to certify the game meaning it would have been illegal to sell in Britain.

GamePolitics posted some conspiracy theories around Manhunt 2’s new release date and how the adults only rating was a publicity stunt, never intended to be the true retail release (similar theories were posed for the South Park movie).

Manhunt follows a prisoner on death row, James Earl Cash, who is trapped in an abandoned town where he has to survive a horror director’s kill-or-be-killed movie. To defend himself, Cash uses a variety of weapons to produce gruesomely detailed deaths of enemies like decapitation or stabbing a crowbar through their head. The game received mostly good reviews, praised for his immersive and detailed experience…if you like the violence. Manhunt 2 is expected to follow a similar plot.

GamePolitics offers several theories, from Manhunt 2 publisher Rockstar (the makers of the Grand Theft Auto series) purposefully putting over the top material in the game to paying off the ESRB to it all being an innocent mistake. I think the first idea is the most plausible. Manhunt won’t sell that well to warrant paying off ratings officials in every country (GTA, on the other hand…). A marketing stunt, however, let’s everybody win. The ratings bodies get to show they stand up to the big bad video game companies and Rockstar gets tons of free publicity.

So after some failed appeals on first amendment grounds, Rockstar has announced a perfectly timed Halloween release (after seeing Saw IV, play the game) for the more retail friendly mature rating.. And as no publicity is bad publicity, Manhunt 2 is almost certain to sell enough for Manhunt 3 to trigger it’s way to consoles.