Following years of conflict between the Australian Ratings Board, the Australian Government, and game developers, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has reported that the current Labor government will support the creation of an “Adults only” classification for games. In the past, some games were refused a rating within the country, as the highest rating available was 15+. This effectively forced several developers to remove certain types of content from their games to allow it to be put on the market in Australia. Also, the ABC reported that several games that received 18+ ratings outside Australia were allowed to be released with a 15+ rating, possibly confusing consumers by not providing enough detailed information about the actual contents of a game.
Next Friday, the Australian Attorneys General will convene to decide upon the matter, with 5 out of 6 having expressed support for the introduction of such a rating in the past.
Finally, as this has gotten out of hand. If books and movies don’t get censored, then games shouldn’t. Man I just hope everyone down there in Australia can play the games as they were originally designed.