Australia Bans as Many as 220 Games in Four Months

Notorious for their highly stringent censorship of games, Australia have recently banned games in record numbers.

Since March of this year 220 games have been banned in Australia, which totals more than four times as many games banned between 1994 and 2014. This massive rise in banned games is suggested to be a result of the government deciding to classify digital games.

The majority of games banned in Australia are mobile games, most likely because of the higher number of games released on the platform.

Games classification in Australia, which is much maligned by Australian gamers, is currently undergoing changes in the way it works. They have recently begun an initiative to enter the International Age Range Coalition (IARC), used by many European countries and the United States, which streamlines the process of classifying games. This may lead to Australia classifying games in a more similar way to other countries.

The list of titles banned in Australia includes many acclaimed games, such as Manhunt, The Witcher 2, South Park: The Stick of Truth and Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number. Some of these games were later re-released as censored versions.

It’s clear that the Australian system of classifying games is not in line with the rest of the world. An 18+ adult classification was only introduced in 2013, whereby previously anything deemed unfit for their 15+ rating was banned. This move towards the IARC classification may loosen the tightness of Australia’s games rating system.

Related Topics: Australia, Game Ban

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