Aussie gamers are once again frustrated after the Australian Classification Board banned the detective RPG Disco Elysium.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut was set to launch on PS5/PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X/Xbox One on March 30, but it looks like this won't be happening in Down Under.
The Final Cut is an expanded version of Disco Elysium that features English voice acting, new quests, fresh animations, and additional characters.
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But the Australian Classification explained why they decided to ban the game.
The statement said: "The computer game is classified RC ... as computer games that depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified."
They then ruled that the game should not be classified.
The game has been available in Australia for two years through the Steam online games store, but developers ZA/UM were looking forward to their console launch this month.
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Prior to being sold in stores in Australia, it had to go to the classification board for review.
Paper Shotgun journalist Alec Meer wrote of the game: "It is not a game about youth and heroism, conquest and vengeance, triumph or power.
"It is a game about confronting one's own wreckage. It is a game not about regrets, but about how shameful those regrets are, how destructive they are.
"It is a game about challenging regrets, and building something new from the wreckage. It is a mirror I cannot turn away from."
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Fans have slammed the Australian Classification Board, with one commenter writing: "I'm so sick of the ratings board. They shouldn't be there to decide what I can watch or play.
"They're there to tell me what something contains. Give it an R18+ and move on. I'm an adult and it's my decision what I subject myself to."
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Another added: "Disco Elysium denied classification in Australia due to depicting sex, drug misuse and violence. Surely we're past blaming games for the world's problems?"
It's not the first time the Australian Classification Board have clashed with gamers over their harsh decisions on new games.
According to Rock Paper Shotgun, they also banned We Happy Few from being sold in the country back in 2018 after taking issue with the game's fake drug 'Joy'.
The game managed to end up with an R18+ age rating in Australia, rather than being banned after the devs appealed the ruling.
Featured Image Credit: ZA/UM
