Australia is known for censoring violence in video games. One of the more famous cases was the censoring if Left 4 Dead 2, which toned down the violence by quite a bit.
In January of 2013, Australia implemented a new classification ratings, allowing for games that would normally be censored or banned in Australia to be released in the country. Many gamers in Australia thought the days of censoring video games would be over. They are wrong.
Saints Row IV has been classified as Refused Classification. This means that the game cannot be sold in Australia in its current state. According to Joystiq, Volition is already re-working on some of the code to get the game released in Australia.
According to the classification board, Saints Row IV has depictions of “implied sexual violence which are not justified by context.” The report goes on to say that it also features drug use that is “related to incentives or rewards.” These scenes are prohibited to be shown in computer games, according to the guidelines.
The new classification system set up the R18+ rating for Australia, allowing for more mature games to be released in the country. The previous Saints Row games received M15+ ratings, meaning they are suitable for gamers 15 and older.
Saints Row IV is set to release on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 on August 29, 2013. It is being developed by Volition, and published by Deep Silver.
