A second major Australian chain has promised to remove Grand Theft Auto V from its shelves because of depictions of violence against women. The move, predictably, enraged the Australian gaming community.
Kmart followed the lead of sister-company Target and announced on Thursday that the wildly popular game - which has been out for more than a year but recently re-released on Playstation 4 - was not suitable for selling in its many Australian stores.
A Change.org petition received more than 44,000 signatures over the last few days. Three former sex workers are behind the petition and argue the game is "grooming" a generation of young people to accept violent acts towards women.
"It's a game that encourages players to murder women for entertainment. The incentive is to commit sexual violence against women, then abuse or kill them to proceed or get 'health' points".
Critics have highlighted the feature of GTA V allowing gamers to simulate sex acts on prostitutes and then beat them up to get their money back.
But the gaming community is focusing on the fact that the game has an R18+ classification rating in Australia, and cannot be sold to children.
All-age retailers like Target and Kmart have roundly come under attack for featuring the R18+ in the "toys" section.
Australian games retail pictured