On the one hand, Target Australia’s decision to stop selling Grand Theft Auto V in response to a large petition opposing its sale is not a confusing one. Target is not a specialty video game retailer. It’s a department store that sells a wide range of products, from family clothing to toys, and from home wares to sporting goods. Home entertainment is just a single slice of Target’s broad range of stock, and GTA V is but a single video game amongst presumably several thousand other games, Blu-rays, and DVDs.

“ Target is not a specialty video game retailer.

There's a lot more nuance to GTA V than mindless violence.

“ It’s disappointing... that the success of this petition appears to have hinged entirely on exaggeration and misinformation.

And extremely unhelpful.

Especially if that rug really tied the room together.

petition of (at the time) close to 40,000 signatures (a number it has since exceeded). The language of the petition, which accuses the game of incentivising sexual violence against women, is misleading but I’ll touch on that in a moment. Focus on the number for now. It’s a large one. Too large for a business like Target Australia to ignore, particularly after the petition was spotlighted on mainstream media and certainly not after the petition encouraged its supporters to contact Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder personally via his Twitter account . Target Australia is a subsidiary of Wesfarmers and Goyder is an ambassador for White Ribbon (active in more than 60 countries White Ribbon is the world’s largest male-led movement to end men’s violence against women).Target Australia, in this instance, has clearly looked at any further revenue it stands to gain from selling a single video game (which, over 12 months on from the release of the game on PS3 and Xbox 360 and after the initial rush of sales for it on PS4 and Xbox One, will be only a fraction of what the company has already made) and has decided that this figure is worth sacrificing to avoid being perceived by the public to be ignoring such an ostensibly large petition (scrolling through the most popular “reasons for signing” comments on the petition it would appear that at least some of the signees are actually opposed to the campaign, but change.org requires users sign a petition in order to leave comment).On the other, though, it remains frustrating due to the misinformed language in the petition itself and the continued implication that incredibly multifarious problems in our society can be eased by simply targeting parts of pop culture.I should stress that Australia’s statistics concerning violence against women are as startling as they are abhorrent. Over 12 months, on average, one woman is killed every week in Australia as a result of intimate partner violence and one in three women have suffered physical and/or sexual violence at the hands of someone known to them. As someone who grew up surrounded by twice as many women than men, and with a daughter of my own, these figures are frighteningly unacceptable. forbidden to feature sexual violence , nor are they permitted to feature implied sexual violence that is related to incentives or rewards. Games that do are refused classification. The Classification Board classified GTA V R18+ and has obviously not found the violent acts players are at liberty to choose to perform sexual in nature.Indeed, the outbursts of violence that appear to have been the catalyst for this petition are player-created. They're certainly not related to the progression of the game or, indeed, “health points”. To suggest otherwise only contributes to the false impressions non-gamers regularly harbour about video games and is unhelpful. It should be noted the law enforcement response for violent acts a player chooses to perform in GTA V is the same regardless of the sex, ethnicity, or weight of any non-player character a player takes it upon his- or herself to harm. As one of the biggest entertainment brands in history I think the discussion around how the series could look to introduce more interesting and powerful female characters is a valid one that ought to continue, but I’d also firmly argue that claiming GTA V “encourages” players to “kill women” is outright hyperbole.This confusion around the violence associated with a game like GTA V has, of course, persisted throughout the series. I feel there’s a significant difference between what GTA V allows you to do and what it encourages you to do, and I feel the two get regularly mixed up by often well-meaning individuals with no actual experience of the game itself.Unfortunately, as gamers we find ourselves again debating the merits of video games with a group of folk who feel (or perhaps hope) that the impact of some of society’s most severe problems can be eased via the removal of a single entertainment product from shelves. I don’t see how real change within Australia’s problem with violence against women can be achieved by this. It seems so trivial compared to the kind of overhauls I think we desperately need, in education and mental health particularly, to make meaningful progress. Games like GTA V present a physical target; something people can rally against. Broader education and health issues are more nebulous.What we must not do, however, is go on the attack. It needs to be noted that the women who assembled the petition in the first place are former sex workers and survivors of sexual violence. Out of context it should be entirely unsurprising that depictions of violence from GTA V has them rankled. It’s discouraging the women behind this petition are gleaning their impressions of GTA V from YouTube rather than experiencing the game itself but their overall earnestness is not something I’m calling into question.The fact, however, that these violent acts they incorrectly describe are not tied to normal game progression needs to be explained with civility. The fact that claiming the game actively encourages violence against women above all else is completely false needs to be elucidated maturely. Vitriol will only drive the two sides of this argument further apart.In an update the petition organisers explain they have received threats, plus abusive and intimidating messages from people defending the game. They explain they are “astounded at the level of abuse.” This is beyond counterproductive. It will only galvanise detractors of adult video games like GTA V. You can’t take a crap on the rug in retaliation to being called an animal without proving the very point you’re so spiteful about.

GTA V is hardly the first time we've watched career crooks pull off massive heists.

“ Will other stores in the country be compelled to follow suit should they be presented with similar petitions?

Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of this event is how quickly Target Australia backflipped on comments made to news.com.au earlier this week (comments that have since been removed from the article following an update explaining the company’s decision to cease sales of the game).“We’ve got to listen to our customers and there are as many defending the right to buy the game as there are who want it removed,” Target Australia’s general manager for corporate affairs Jim Cooper told news.com.au.“But simply asking Target to not sell the game won’t make any difference to its availability.”Cooper clarified that, like all other retailers who are obligated to adhere to the classification legislation concerning restricted content, Target limited the sale of the game to adults.“We think it’s a valid debate… but it might be a debate that needs to be had at a regulator level,” said Cooper.“We respect the sincerity of people who do not want it sold and their opinion is valid, but we are a retailer for everyone, as long as we are selling the game responsibly.”And yet, yesterday evening, Target Australia made the decision to stop selling the game “We’ve been speaking to many customers over recent days about the game, and there is a significant level of concern about the game’s content,” said Cooper in a prepared statement.“We’ve also had customer feedback in support of us selling the game, and we respect their perspective on the issue.“However, we feel the decision to stop selling GTA V is in line with the majority view of our customers.”Cooper added that Target Australia would continue to sell other R-rated DVDs and games.CEO of GTA V publisher Take-Two Interactive Strauss Zelnick has expressed his disappointment with the decision.“We are disappointed that an Australian retailer has chosen no longer to sell Grand Theft Auto V – a title that has won extraordinary critical acclaim and has been enjoyed by tens of millions of consumers around the world,” said Zelnick. “Grand Theft Auto V explores mature themes and content similar to those found in many other popular and groundbreaking entertainment properties. Interactive entertainment is today's most compelling art form and shares the same creative freedom as books, television, and movies.”“I stand behind our products, the people who create them, and the consumers who play them.”The Interactive Games & Entertainment Association of Australia is surprised by Target Australia’s move.“Over the past few decades videogames have taken their place alongside film, literature and television as a medium capable of entertaining all ages, including the ability to sustain complex and mature themes for an adult audience that rival similar works in other media,” read an IGEA statement provided to IGN.“As a result, IGEA are surprised by the recent removal of a popular R18+ game from retail shelves given the average age of a gamer in this country is 32. Games should not be treated any differently than books, music, television, or movies that are rated R18+. IGEA’s members are proud of their compliance with the National Classification Scheme and believe that consumers, which includes parents and caregivers, should be allowed to make informed decisions for themselves.”I suspect Target Australia may be shocked at the speed of which their decision was met with a wave of vitriol. An hour after Target Australia published the news that the chain would no longer be selling GTA V in its stores there were well over 1000 comments on the Facebook post , almost all decrying the decision. For perspective, at the time the previous several posts had accumulated between three and 30 comments apiece. Today Target Australia's Facebook post regarding GTA V has over 6500 comments and is still climbing.I think the precedent here is perhaps the most worrying element. Will other stores in the country be compelled to follow suit should they be presented with similar petitions? Kmart in Australia, also owned by Wesfamers, has just announced it won’t stock GTA V anymore either . How many signees will it take to persuade stores like Target or Kmart to stop selling other games, or films, or books?On that note, how many would be required to get GTA V back into Target and Kmart stores in Australia? Because there are already petitions to that effect building steam in response Let me reiterate I have the deepest sympathy for women who’ve suffered through violence and that, again, I remain unsurprised that this petition – framed the way it was – has generated enough disgust to prompt Target Australia to act. I do, however, strongly argue that this petition is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of GTA V and am deeply disappointed a great number of presumably well-meaning people have been misled.Target Australia believes this decision will be welcomed by a majority of its customers. I think that Target Australia has been grossly misinformed about how many Australians play video games and, after over a decade of rallying for classification reform, how little they appreciate being told what they can’t buy.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN AU. You can find him on IGNor on Twitter, or chat with him and the rest of the Australian team by joining the IGN AustraliaFor added clarification, Target Australia is a subsidiary of Perth-based Australian retail company Wesfarmers. The chain originated in the ’60s and has been permitted to use Target logo and name since but, aside from this, Target Australia and the United States’ Target Corporation are reportedly otherwise unrelated. Target Australia operates just over 300 stores across Australia.