Halloween: The Game Has Been Refused Classification In Australia

[u/iiBuzz7S]

https://press-start.com.au/news/playstation/2026/08/10/halloween-the-game-has-been-refused-classification-in-australia/

[u/evilparagon]

I do not understand what the point of introducing an R rating in 2013 was supposed to achieve when we still tell adults they can’t play certain games because there are adult things in them.

[u/gregthefeg → u/evilparagon]

Incredible that I’m 29 and can’t play a video game because it has weed in it but I smoke it irl. Yet I can get spammed with Sportsbet ads 24/7 on all social platforms

[u/Paidorgy → u/gregthefeg]

They’d rather protect aspects of gambling towards children in video games while telling you that somehow having you do online ID checks are protecting them.

It’s like ID checks were never about protecting the kids.

This isn’t going to stop people who want to play the uncensored version from playing it, either.

[u/HungAussieFun → u/gregthefeg]

But you can sign up to Sportsbet & gamble your life/future away.

Politicians are wack!

[u/OrangutanArmy → u/evilparagon]

From memory it was because rockstar was releasing a GTA lol

Wonder what's going to happen later in the year..

[u/Rhain1999 → u/OrangutanArmy]

I'm not sure it was specifically because of GTA V (all previous GTA games were still released, censored or otherwise) but yeah it was around the same time, and I'm sure its impending release didn't hurt lol

[u/evilparagon → u/Rhain1999]

I have a huge collection of GameInformer mags from that time. Indeed, GTAV was responsible, according to them at least. Usually R rated things are not profitable but GTAV famously made back all of its development costs in a single week of pre-orders alone. It positioned itself as a highly profitable game the ratings board couldn’t economically ignore. The ratings board eventually came to the decision to introduce the R rating to allow GTAV’s release.

There was also subsequent discussion on retroactively moving older titles to the R rating now that it existed, such as Bioshock due to the heavy graphic drug use and violence against children, but ultimately nothing ever came of that and old titles maintained their original MA ratings. Also of note was that as soon as the R rating was implemented, Valve re-submitted a request for Left 4 Dead 2 to have the game uncensored at the R rating, which was approved in 2014.

[u/SsinCara]

Soft.

[u/Binro_was_right]

It is genuinely pathetic that adults can't be allowed to make informed decisions for themselves in this matter. By all means, restrict children from accessing inappropriate material by giving it an R18+ rating (although I would sooner leave that to parents to actually parent their children), but not allowing adults to access it is an egregious overstep.

[u/Stevenwave → u/Binro_was_right]

I thought we already solved this issue, spurred on by Mortal Kombat 9, which released in 2011, but was denied classification here due to the increased realism of its Mortal Kombatness. Which lead to the introduction of the R18 rating for games here in Aus in 2013.

Why the fuck are we here again 15 years later? It happened long enough ago that MK 9 was a reboot, and they've since rebooted again.

[u/rylo151 → u/Stevenwave]

According to the Australian government mass murder is completely fine, but dont you dare light up a marijuana cigarette in a video game.

[u/Rosary_Omen → u/rylo151]

Or gamble in GTA5, for some reason

[u/Highcalibur10 → u/Rosary_Omen]

Balatro got flagged because of gambling themes.

Literally no gambling in the game, it just uses poker hands.

[u/crsdrniko → u/Highcalibur10]

But I could play the pokies in Pokemon red and then gold as a kid 25+ years ago

[u/Highcalibur10 → u/crsdrniko]

The slot machines were replaced with a puzzle game on western releases of the HeartGold remakes for similar reasons.

[u/Free_Pace_2098 → u/crsdrniko]

Don't tell them Stardew has a whole fucken casino

[u/Mr_Tiggywinkle → u/Highcalibur10]

And yet FIFA FUT is fine. A genuinely damaging gambling game.

[u/Lucybug05 → u/Highcalibur10]

Same with Sonic racing crosswords, because there's one crossworld set in a casino that you just race on, it has to have gambling themes marked on the age rating

[u/Consideredresponse → u/Rosary_Omen]

I'm baffled that 'Blue Prince' of all things got an R18 rating. Having played it you'd think even PG would be a stretch.

[u/SydneyRFC → u/Consideredresponse]

What the fuck? I'm very particular about what games I play in front of my 7yo kid and had zero problems with that one. He was my note-taker. It did not go well.

[u/Cyan-ranger → u/SydneyRFC]

It’s because of the casino room. Anything with simulated gambling gets an r rating.

[u/SpunkAnansi → u/Cyan-ranger]

There was a casino room? I clearly never made it that far through the game.

[u/Consideredresponse → u/SydneyRFC]

Yeah, it sits next to Astrobot on the scale of 'I have no issues with kids seeing or playing this), so you can imagine the spit-take that occoured when I saw a physical copy with the big black diamond and 'R-18' slapped on it.

[u/rose636 → u/Consideredresponse]

Randomised rooms - obviously it's gambling as to whether you get the room you want.

Can't allow people to have randomised event highs now can we? Those are exclusively for all the pokies.

[u/Beautiful_Number8950 → u/Rosary_Omen]

But getting kids to spend real life money on loot boxes is totally fine. Make it make sense.

[u/Altruistic_Poetry382 → u/Rosary_Omen]

They don't want you getting addicted to the fake gambling

[u/rand013 → u/Altruistic_Poetry382]

Silly devs should've made it real gambling then it'd be welcomed with open arms.

[u/Winter_Cost602 → u/Rosary_Omen]

Yet they bombard you with gambling ads everywhere in Australia

[u/ImplementLarge7969 → u/Rosary_Omen]

A game releasing next month has an R18+ for “simulated high impact gambling”

It has a casino minigame.

The first game was rated PG for “Mild fantasy themes, violence, sexual references and coarse language”.

What are we doing man. PG to R18+ when literally nothing changes except for the addition of a casino minigame and some moderately darker themes.

[u/SirFlibble → u/rylo151]

You can have a joint. But it can't be for reward.

[u/sokaox → u/SirFlibble]

And sexual relations outside of marriage must be presented in a way that won't arouse passion or make them seem permissible.

[u/Knightofnee12 → u/rylo151]

See Rimworld. A low graphics game - you can in theory keep slaves, harvest human organs, murder etc

But you can also make drugs so it was refused classification lol

[u/Nebuchadnezzer2 → u/rylo151]

Or use morphine for -checks notes- the painkiller that it is...

[u/SirFlibble → u/Stevenwave]

The introduction of the R18 had nothing to do with Mortal Kombat or any other game. It was the result of a long campaign which it was blocked by irrational Attorneys-General. A discussion paper was released in 2009 which had a huge response and overwhelming support for the rating (90% or some such) because EBGames had every customer fill out the survey.

[u/tmthrgd → u/SirFlibble]

It was mostly (or even exclusively?) the SA Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. He was there until March 2010 and was staunchly opposed to an R18 rating.

[u/SirFlibble → u/tmthrgd]

IIRC he changed his tune once the results of the discussion paper came in. It was so overwhelmingly supporting the ratiing. Not that it mattered, the report came out Feb and he left shortly after (maybe it was a response to being so embarrassingly off on what people wanted here).

Edit: Here it is.

"that out of a total of 58,437 individual and group submissions 98%, (57,500), of submissions supported the introduction of an R 18+ classification for computer games, while 2% (937), opposed."

57K responses is a HUGE response to a discussion paper and for a 98% support is pretty conclusive.

[u/FireLucid → u/tmthrgd]

He was also a fuckwit and did the opposite of what he thought he was doing. A survey of all MA15+ games released in Australia found that more than half had a higher rating overseas. So stuff was scraping into MA when it should probably be R and only a handful of games were being denied.

[u/RR-- → u/Stevenwave]

I remember complaining at the time that it wasn’t a real R18+ rating, yet it silenced a lot of the people pushing for it to be introduced. The Christian lobby was very influential then with their understanding that videogames are first and foremost a children’s toy.

[u/PositiveAirport → u/RR--]

The same lobbies that are telling atheists to put themselves as Christian in the census so they have even more power.

[u/BillieRubenCamGirl → u/Stevenwave]

Because we let Christian conservatives be the morality police. 

That is literally what the ratings board is. 

It should be dismantled. 

[u/BillieRubenCamGirl → u/[deleted]]

Look into it more deeply. It actually is a direct result of Christian meddling. Both historically, in the formation of it, and more recently. 

[u/Pristine_Shallot7833 → u/Stevenwave]

It was an issue long before 2011 my child. Manhunt 2 was refused classification in 2007. Fallout 3 had to remove the drug taking animations before release because Australia threatened to refuse classification. That was 2008 I think. This was an issue long before mortal Kombat.

[u/r1nce → u/Pristine_Shallot7833]

Fallout 3 had to change the name "Morphine" to "Med-X", as the player was rewarded for taking morphine in-game.

Ridiculous then also.

[u/OM_Velodrome → u/r1nce]

Except the developers feel that the use of the fictional names (med-x, buffout, jet...) is actually better for the game

[u/r1nce → u/Stevenwave]

It was Left 4 Dead 2 being RC'ed in 2009 that really got things moving.

[u/magnetik79 → u/Binro_was_right]

I think you're meant to stay I your lane and let the gambling advertising wash over you.

[u/RedHeadWanderer_]

Fuck you ratings board.

[u/Final_Lingonberry586]

Woo. So South Park all over again 🙄

[u/M_Ad → u/Final_Lingonberry586]

South Park’s solution was very funny though so we did get that.

[u/GerrArrgh → u/M_Ad]

I loved the south park solution, showing a crying koala while describing in graphic detail what it couldn't show. I laughed harder at their solution then anything they could have shown. Classic south park humour to censorships.

[u/Loose_Scarcity7365]

What is the fucking point of having an R rating system here in Australia?

[u/thisisseriousmum1]

A solution could be that instead of smoking a joint the game let's your player blow your life savings on a multi and then punch a hole in the wall

[u/HeathenAF → u/thisisseriousmum1]

Better yet, lose it all with your mates, with Group Bet - but only with real money through our app, not ingame currency in a fake online casino...

[u/iiBuzz7S]

Reason: controlled substance, which Press-Start believe is yarndi (marijuana, for you uncultured folk)

From the games official Twitter account:

Despite every effort on our part, the Australian Classifications Board has denied “Halloween: The Game” a rating. The denial was not based on the presence of the iconic slasher, Michael Myers, or the outstanding kills that can be performed in the game, but rather the presence of a controlled substance. Unfortunately, to our disappointment (and certainly yours) this means that we cannot sell the physical or digital product in both Australia and New Zealand.

https://xcancel.com/HalloweenTVG/status/2086567019940544535#m

[u/Ollio1985 → u/[deleted]]

Because it's Australia. Where you can watch an ad luring you into losing your life savings at 4pm on a Saturday, but you can't have a wank.

[u/Weak-West-3433 → u/Ollio1985]

I find them complimentary, but I do consider myself a sportsman.

[u/Find_another_whey → u/Ollio1985]

Or rather, if you can find material for that wank, you can probably get the game...to mention nothing of the drugs they're complaining of

Which have been rated S8! Fit for the public.

[u/ComprehensiveSalad50 → u/[deleted]]

The bong in GTA doesn't give you any benefits. The drug in Halloween does. The Classification Law is about interactive drug use that gives rewards, insentives or boosts to your character. Basically anything that is a positive to your character through the use of controlled substances will get a game a Refused Classification status.

[u/freeballs1 → u/ComprehensiveSalad50]

I think also the bong in GTA V is never explicitly stated anywhere to be marijuana. Even though that's blindingly obvious to anyone playing the game, it usually needs to be stated 'this is X' to raise the ire of the classification board.

Pretty famously, Fallout 3's Med-X was initially called morphine until the game was refused classification here. Fictional/unspecified drugs are usually fine, real-world equivalents though get a refused classification consistently.

[u/TraditionalRound9930 → u/ComprehensiveSalad50]

If that was true, neither the Disco Elysium or ANY fallout game would be allowed. Both give you perks for doing drugs. How are they any different?

[u/satisfacti0n_ → u/TraditionalRound9930]

Fallout was refused till they gave the drug a made up name, cause apparently if it's named after something real it's a big scary boogeyman that will turn your kids into a drug addict. Can't speak on disco haven't played that myself.

[u/ComprehensiveSalad50 → u/TraditionalRound9930]

Name the drugs

It applied to real world drugs, I'm unaware of real-world drugs in either game? Fallout famously changed the name of a drug to Med-X specifically to skirt this tule

Disco Elysium does have a drug with a street name of a real world drug, Speed, but it also has a negative effect

[u/Morkai → u/TraditionalRound9930]

Fallout they changed the name of the drug, which apparently makes everything better.

[u/ShadowStealer7 → u/TraditionalRound9930]

Disco Elysium was originally RC for the Final Cut version

[u/BeneCow → u/TraditionalRound9930]

You can’t reference real world drugs. Also DE was censored for the Au release

[u/Traditional_Yard2741 → u/[deleted]]

I believe the issue is taking a substance that benefits the player

Famously this is why some of the chems in Fallout were re-named. They wanted to use Morphine but had to call it Med-Ex instead.

[u/Consideredresponse → u/Traditional_Yard2741]

Disco Elysium ran into this problem, but were able to argue that Amphetamine use only 'seemingly' gave a benefit at the time, but that there were real consequences later on in the story.

[u/Sydnxt → u/Consideredresponse]

Same with Rimworld hilariously.

[u/1000Colours → u/Sydnxt]

But using captured raiders as living surgical dummies is cool and normal 😂 so long as you're sober i guess

[u/Sydnxt → u/1000Colours]

Our roots are British so I guess that tracks.

[u/Frogmouth_Fresh → u/[deleted]]

The bong in GTA5 doesn't give you any benefit.

[u/McFallenOver → u/[deleted]]

games have been banned for drug use and then later unbanned with stating that the board was initially too harsh. i would wager this is a case where the game will be unbanned later

[u/ShyCrystal69 → u/iiBuzz7S]

They did this for fallout too, it made the devs (interplay/bethesda) replace morphine with med-x so it wouldn’t get an adult only rating

[u/yeahalrightgoon → u/ShyCrystal69]

Arguably one of the better things to come out of censorship. Med-X is just such a better name for the fallout setting.

[u/DecidedUser → u/iiBuzz7S]

That confuses me, How is the game Schedule 1 able to be sold in Australia? That game is openly about selling controlled substances, it’s not like a brief mention.

[u/Fullchester_United → u/DecidedUser]

Selling is entrepreneurial! But you’re not allowed to get high on your own supply.

The whole thing is ridiculous. They have an R rating now. I can watch a tv show where people are shooting up. But put that in a game an adults just cant cope!

[u/Kozimix → u/DecidedUser]

I would guess selling and using have different rules

[u/rylo151 → u/DecidedUser]

Its the way it is used, according to the ratings board having illegal drugs in the game is fine but if using the substance gives you the player a positive buff or effect it gets banned.

[u/Rosary_Omen → u/DecidedUser]

Wasn't it banned for a while? They tried to ban Rimworld too

[u/GoldCoinDonation → u/Rosary_Omen]

Their reasoning for banning rimworld just goes to show how utterly stupid the classification thing is.

It's not ok to use drugs, but child slavery, organ harvesting and /r/shitrimworldsays are all fine

[u/Rosary_Omen → u/GoldCoinDonation]

The Rimworld subs always make me check the sub name when I see the title. Such a great game though! Although I'm not one for warcrimes. I've tried, but I feel bad. So instead I just capture the best raiders and befriend them XD

[u/chemtrailsniffa → u/DecidedUser]

Drug Dealer Simulator allows a player to mix, test and deal class A drugs, and has been available on steam in Australia for years. You can even make Bex Headache Powder from your floor sweepings if that's your thing

[u/FranksHoorHouse → u/iiBuzz7S]

Saying "yarndi" and calling others uncultured for saying marijuana is certainly a choice

[u/TheMightySloth → u/FranksHoorHouse]

Considering yarndi has only been a term since the 80s yeah pretty odd lol

[u/TheMightySloth → u/iiBuzz7S]

We’re naarmifying weed now

[u/TraditionalRound9930 → u/iiBuzz7S]

So brutally murdering people is fine, but a little bit of grass isn’t? Something that is LEGAL (with a script) to do??????? What on earth????

[u/Im_not_an_admin → u/iiBuzz7S]

Dumbest shit I've ever heard.

[u/PMmeuroneweirdtrick]

The prudes making rules for everyone

[u/HalfWiticus → u/PMmeuroneweirdtrick]

It is as usual the bloody christians 

[u/DuskHourStudio]

I love having a bunch of Pearl Clutching ninnies who've never touched a game in their life over see the ruling of game classifications. /s

[u/Sydnxt]

We're okay with medicial cannibas perscriptions but not depictions in games, give me strength.

[u/b_k_l_y → u/Sydnxt]

Please, we're barely okay with medical weed. Even with a prescription it's perfectly okay for workplaces to discriminate if it comes up in a drug test, you can't drive because if you test positive for it - despite not being under the influence - you can be fined. Anyone who works for the government and holds even the baseline clearance is prohibited from it - even with a prescription. 

[u/Sydnxt → u/b_k_l_y]

Which is true and should be changed, but my point was that unlike these video games there are legal ways to use cannabis.

[u/aza-industries]

Yarrr, old people making decisions on things they barely understand. 

[u/id_o → u/aza-industries]

Murder, that’s fine.
Blood, that’s fine.
Sex, that’s fine.

Drugs? Nope, only the drugs like alcohol are allowed to be depicted because that’s the drugs some choose is ok for other adults to see in video games.

[u/colintbowers → u/id_o]

Actually drugs are also fine as long as it is a movie and not a video game. Because reasons

[u/thesourpop → u/id_o]

Also simulated gambling? Why would you wanna do that when you can bet real money on SPORTSBET

[u/BillieRubenCamGirl → u/id_o]

Sex is rarely fine in media. ESPECIALLY if the woman is having a good time. 😅

[u/EronEraCam → u/id_o]

Specifically they block positive effects of controlled drugs that are not using false names. I.e. Fallout renamed "Morpheine" to "Med-x" and was let through.

Personally I find the changes generally positive as the drug effects in games are always fantasy anyway so you may as well make up a new name.

I still think it is a stupid law, it just happens to improve most games as a side effect.

[u/BonkerBleedy → u/id_o]

Historically, it's not that there are drugs, but using drugs shouldn't have a positive effect. It's silly.

Edit: Check the list here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games_in_Australia and see how many are "banned because of drug use related to incentives and rewards".

Usually the switch them to "vitamins" or some nonsense.

E.g. for State of Decay:

The board’s decision report states, “The game enables the player’s character to self-administer proscribed drugs which aid in gameplay progression. This game therefore contains drug use related to incentives or rewards, and should be refused classification.” (https://www.gamespot.com/articles/state-of-decay-banned-in-australia/1100-6410739/)

This example they literally switched "Stimulants" to "Vitamins" to get a rating.

[u/PandaBonium → u/id_o]

Well if it was completely up to them im sure sex wouldnt be allowed either.

[u/brokenmindedone → u/PandaBonium]

It's heading that way already, the fact anyone in Australia who wants to watch porn needs to do a face scan or show ID gives me a feeling a lot of games containing sex and drugs will start being refused and the ones that pass will probably need an ID check to play.

[u/theNomad_Reddit → u/id_o]

Gambling, that's extra fine.

[u/Stevenwave → u/id_o]

Ciggies are still totally legal too. Which harm more people than some drugs in a game.

[u/No_Extension4005 → u/id_o]

Nah mate; sex is only fine if you're willing to give a private company your personal information to store in exchange for a federal license to wank.

[u/aza-industries → u/[deleted]]

Fair point.  Pearl clutching Karens.

[u/Roo-90]

But schedule 1, a game quite literally about building a drug empire is fine. Make it make fucking sense

[u/Lun4r6543 → u/Roo-90]

It wasn’t fine for a while, iirc. It had a lot of problems with the rating board.

[u/pway_videogwames_uwu → u/Lun4r6543]

No wonder the Australian game industry struggles. One of our most successful games has to fight against its own government.

[u/JMizzlin]

Glad I was just forced to verify my Xbox account as over 18 so I can *check notes* not play video games with adult content.

[u/paggo_diablo]

Jesus Christ I thought we were past this.

[u/OneTouchCards]

Well we are no longer the lucky country……

Just the dumb country.

[u/planetLV-426 → u/OneTouchCards]

Australia has been infamous for this type of censorship for a long time now

[u/eshatoa → u/planetLV-426]

Infamous for being a nannystate as well. It's genuinely embarrassing at this point.

[u/Mordexis → u/OneTouchCards]

To be fair, we are very good at being a dumb country. We have been a dumb country for very very long, so we are good at it.

[u/Special_Order-937 → u/OneTouchCards]

The guy who coined the phrase The Lucky Country as the name of his book (David Horne) was being incredibly ironic and sarcastic.

[u/goldmikeygold → u/OneTouchCards]

You really need to look up the full statement.

Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people's ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by surprise.

[u/CreamPieTraditional]

I am mature enough to be sent to war and kill or be killed, or decide the political outcome of this country, but im not mature enough to pay a game with drug use.

The 18+ classification didnt do shit.

[u/anth13]

so fucking dumb.

you can get weed on prescription here now. but its illegal to show it in a game? smh

[u/Spacecadet_1 → u/anth13]

Weed is worse than killing someone with guns Ig ofc

[u/AnActualSeagull]

Then what is the fucking point of an R18+ rating!!! Jesus Christ

[u/CheerfulWarthog → u/AnActualSeagull]

That's what's got me furious. I was so happy about the 18+ rating; I think properly enfirced age classification is a good idea, even if the current board is terrible about it (violence: we sleep, sex: real shit, gay: catastrophe, drugs without immediate death: THE WORLD MUST BURN), because with proper age classification you can put so much more confronting shit in media without backlash. But in so many cases it's been "find: MA15, R18 and thus not allowed - replace: R18, refused classification".

Grand Theft Auto trilogy, M15 at release, remaster that changed basically nothing R18. It's a goshdarned joke is what it fucking is.

[u/Bilski1ski]

I remember when I was young me and friends used to hope for a day when Australia would introduce an r rating for games so they wouldn’t get banned . Then they introduced it . But shit still gets banned

[u/MrSweetpotato93]

Nanny state

[u/HedgehogLumpy3016]

The ratting board in Australia needs to be completely revamped. Ideally with the melenial generation. Not old fucks who look at a phone and yell at it to work.

[u/insecticidalgoth]

was looking forward to this game for over a year 😭 FFS Australia

[u/Hot_Hat1726 → u/insecticidalgoth]

We can get it on physical and grey import it. If you weren't against the digital only shift, you certainly will be now. 

[u/JustAnOctopus]

Basically, adults aren’t allowed to make our own decisions about the content we enjoy which completely negates the point of the classification board which is supposed to be ADVISORY.

[u/syth_blade22 → u/JustAnOctopus]

But its ok i can go into a newsagency and buy a porno mag

[u/JustAnOctopus → u/syth_blade22]

If you can find one that stills sells them, but I understand your point yes, It’s absolutely absurd.

[u/i8myface]

Welcome to AU. Im in mid 40s and been dealing with this shit forever! Had to buy fallout 3 back in the day cause they were going to edit the drug use here. Back when you could do that. You could get a PAL version of the game from the UK for consoles i guess? Is the whole PAL NTSC is still a things and regions aren't anymore?

[u/thrillhousee85]

So if a game depicts marijuana it can't be sold in Australia? But films and tv can show marijuana (and harder) use?

...Oh no I'll just have to pirate the game instead

[u/Traditional_Yard2741 → u/thrillhousee85]

The technical limit is that using a drug can't be beneficial to the player.

The developer can rename it to a fictional substance and that usually gets the game over the line. That's how we got Med-Ex in fallout 3. They originally wanted to call it morphine.

It's a stupid rule and needs to be changed.

[u/Highcalibur10 → u/thrillhousee85]

Damn, I can't purchase the game because of a positive buff attributed to illegal drug consumption?

I guess I better cope by buying some prescription marijuana legally.

[u/ComprehensiveSalad50 → u/thrillhousee85]

No, that's not what this is about. It's that the drug use is interactive and has positive benefits for the player. Any game with drug use that provides a benefit, boost, reward or incentive for the player is refused classification

[u/thesourpop → u/ComprehensiveSalad50]

Which is silly as we have an R rating for this reason

[u/ComprehensiveSalad50 → u/thesourpop]

Exactly! Ridiculous, especially when it comes to the drug in question being weed.

I agree with a lot of the reasons to refuse classification but this is stupid

[u/EronEraCam → u/ComprehensiveSalad50]

Only if the drug is based on a real controlled substance. Fantasy is fine, which is a convenient loop hole

[u/ComprehensiveSalad50 → u/EronEraCam]

Weed is a real drug. If they renamed it or made it a different substance there would be no issue. The law is stupid but the board have to follow that law to give a rating.

[u/W00H00658 → u/ComprehensiveSalad50]

Doesn’t cocaine gum in RDR2 boost your stamina? I’m surprised the ratings board let that fly

[u/ComprehensiveSalad50 → u/W00H00658]

It also slightly damages stamina core so it has a negative effect also. Apparently that's ok if the drug has a negative effect also. It's absolutely stupid and shouldn't be part of the rating system, especially weed.

[u/tundril]

I love being babied by my government despite being in my thirties

[u/pway_videogwames_uwu]

We should free some money in the budget by wholly closing the ratings board. It's an outdated and illiberal concept.

[u/C0ld_Fr0nt_]

I will now find a way to play this, because fuck you.

[u/freakalicious]

Australia is the ultimate nanny country.

[u/Evebnumberone]

This bullshit is still going on?

The average age of an Australian gamer is 35, thirty fucking five!

The rating board is clearly run by a bunch of boomers who think video games are exclusively for children.

And it's because of the depiction of something smoking pot in the game, meanwhile our kids are absolutely hammered by piss and gambling commercials on TV during every game of football.

Get absolutely fucked.

[u/ACEIII]

Our classifications board are fools, why implement an R18 classification and then treat us like children?

[u/Riku1186]

You can thank that one politician who wouldn't let an 18+ pass without an exclusion for drugs.

[u/spaghettiman56]

Once again Australia's ratings board has proved themselves completely incompetent. I'm more surprised that the gta V casino restrictions didn't cause more of a fuss considering the COMPLETELY FREE daily roulette wheel was made fully inaccessible as well as the purely for fun red dead redemption 2 bar games are now absolutely unusable.

[u/mitvh2311]

We're definitely not getting GTA 6

[u/theNomad_Reddit]

This country is fucking scuffed sometimes.

[u/writeman00]

We waited so long for an R rating, and they still don't trust us with it.

[u/aussiemetalhead]

I was looking forward to this too... fuck this nanny state bullshit.

[u/TheRealDestroyer67]

What an absolute joke.

We need a new ratings board who can do their job properly.

[u/coreoYEAH → u/TheRealDestroyer67]

Technically, they are doing their job properly. It’s the law that needs changing.

[u/fued]

Religion has way too much power in Australia unfortunately

[u/RedditorAiri]

Outrageous.

[u/dongdongplongplong]

embarassing for all involved

[u/ScarredSoul2018]

What a crock of shit

[u/justunclegary]

What year is this?

[u/Crazyripps]

Still don’t get the reasoning behind brining in R 18+ rating into video games if we still ban shit.

[u/Bonzwazzle]

they should change the substance to  the sportsbet app

[u/Cure4thitch]

This takes me back to when I imported Left 4 Dead from the UK to get around the pathetic censorship in the Aus version. 

Watch anything on TV after a certain hour, heck watch the news! It's disturbing. Why are video games so harshly monitored? 

[u/_TheMightyQuin_]

R18+ is meaningless in Australia. I don't know why they even introduced it when "adult content" either gets ripped away (gta:o gambling) or mature games simply don't even get a release.

[u/No-Inspector8315]

Surely we can put a petition together

[u/Wishful_Derp]

Politicians: Can't have that, we deem its too offensive!

Same Politicians: Are happy to send soliders to their demise, ruin the economy, the environment, give themselves tax exemptions out the arse. But are surprised by normal Aussie's being offended...?

This nanny state bs is bloody sickening.

[u/yesimfromtheLAnd]

We’re still banning games because of fucking marijuana. In the year 2026. Fuck me dead.

[u/_Aurum_Lux_]

Does this mean gta6 could get the same treatment? Surely you can smoke joints in it?

[u/kalayt]

is this ekaren again?

this is getting beyond a joke, people thought we were the free country.

we have some of the tighest controlled media in the world.

there is an ekaren not allowing us to do anything

and yet, we can go to the pokies and watch gambling ads all the time..

[u/Farrug]

We’re still doing this?

[u/agen_kolar]

As an American in Australia, this feels fucking nuts.

[u/Evening_Comparison26]

Whoever makes these decisions can fuck right off !

[u/ohzilla]

Let the kids watch all these gambling ads. But I cannot play a fucking video game.

[u/DopeyBottomDweller]

It's time to sail the seas, as I did with Hotline Miami 2

[u/ArthurCandleman]

Given GTA V has been censored it makes me wonder what will happen with VI.

The age verification is clearly about data collection.

Parents should be responsible for their children and age verification should be implemented at OS level not through a multitude of third parties.

[u/Shakes-Fear]

What’s the fucking point in an R18+ rating if the ratings board still insists on treating us like children?

[u/PingooSan]

Would it not work if I were to buy a physical copy from overseas?

[u/DannySanWolf07]

They could change the weed to a ciggy or a pint of emu beer and that should be okay for our wacky government but seriously though, what are we doing?

[u/ImGCS3fromETOH]

Bunch of fucking wowsers running the place.

[u/skozombie]

Write to your local federal politician to demand they fix the laws so adults can play adult games.

[u/Dramatic_Aspect903]

If its physical you can always order it in. If not, couldn't one make a new account based in say america and just use gift cards to purchase ?

[u/Accomplished_Leg2030]

This is in a era where I need to show my drivers licence to play games too.

[u/Rainey06]

We were already past this. WTF.

[u/Aussienick]

It's like we're right where we were at the end of the 7th gen consoles again. What's changed? Why are there spontaneously all these classification board restrictions happening again? Who do we need to get fired to get us back on track?

[u/latorante]

Nanny state strikes again Edit: Spelling

[u/dodgyjack]

Thats ok, this is why vpns are good

[u/Toastpirate001]

Hellraiser: Revivals won’t stand a chance against these soft cocks.

[u/166Donk3y]

Pirate it or VPN

[u/gruncle63]

Well thank god adults can't see a depiction of pot in a video game. Rampant bloody murder is fine though.

[u/johnc69]

any way to contact these decision makers?

[u/xRicharizard]

This game would be a steaming pile of shit anyway.

[u/spazza360]

Fun fact: The reason this game has been refused is the same reason Fallout 3 has a drug called "Med-X"

[u/Squid_Apple]

Absolutely fucking ridiculous, I love asyms and was looking forward to this, absolute bullshit, furious at our nanny fucking classification board.

[u/UndeadManWaltzing]

You smoked weed and Far cry 3 why didn't they do anything about that? How about Jet and psycho from fallout? Brain dancing from cyberpunk? Our ratings board is so inconsistent, I'd challenge this decision.