The E3 2012 demo for Splinter Cell: Blacklist introduced a savage, player-controlled torture scene, asking players to press and hold a button to twist a knife into an enemy's throat, hoping he spills some information. That torture scene will not be in the final version of Blacklist, following negative response from early players.

"Definitely we are not going to see when the game's coming out that there are torture scenes in it," Blacklist producer Andrew Wilson said. "That scene is not there any more. I've not really heard anyone say they loved it."

Wilson said the scene may have been missing context, making it seem like "tough material."

"We've scaled a lot of that back, and as we've gone through the process of development there are always things that you feel are not working as well," he said. "Every game does this, and cuts certain things." Just not throats, apparently.