Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is hurtling towards its anticipated release date of 30th March 2021, but those of you in Australia who want to play the game should put on the brakes. The Australian Classification Board has refused to provide the game with an official rating, meaning a PlayStation 5 and PS4 launch in the territory is rather unlikely. There is always the option of purchasing the game through a different regional storefront or importing a physical copy when they become available, but it doesn't look like the ZA/UM developed title will hit store shelves in the land down under.
Accompanying the rating refusal is the following explanation as to why: "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."
The consumption of drugs and alcohol does indeed play a large part in the gameplay loop of Disco Elysium, and this appears to be the issue stopping the Australian Classification Board from proceeding with assigning a rating. Strangely enough, the original 2019 PC game could actually be played by Ozzies in their native region, but that wasn't rated.
Are you from Australia and have been hoping to play Disco Elysium on PS5 or PS4? How do you feel about this? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[source press-start.com.au]
Comments 33
Crikey mate!! Drugs & alcohol are bad
Sex, violence, and cruelty? Permissible
Not surprised. There have been numerous games denied classification in the past.
Gotta love having that board of government censors deciding what is and isn't appropriate for you to play!
All censorship is evil and ineffective.
It’s not as if the game’s anywhere near Manhunt or Hatred. Just a bit silly to be honest. If anything, the way it deals with rape is miles better and more sensitive than any game I’ve played.
@willi3su
Pretty much, except in the most extreme of cases. People just feel that their opinions are more important than the freedom of others.
Their description as to why it wont be classified only serves to intrigue me more
Hey you, Whitehouse
Ha ha, charade you are..........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcV4B-74pDk
Glad I don’t live there! But of course people complain about America. Maybe we should be censored like this for a few years.
@Culjoseth I’m pretty sure when most people complain about living in America it has nothing to do with the video game industry or censorship...there’s actual REAL LIFE problems that exist outside of fantasy reality, however this isn’t the time nor place to discuss such things.
@nessisonett how many games do you play that deal with rape!? Never mind. I’ll take your word for it.
I checked the PSN pre-order page in the US and Asia and still have not seen it - very excited for this!
@2cents Anybody that goes near Japanese games knows that there’s a strange obsession with putting otherwise powerful female characters into situations where they’re powerless. Although even games like Tomb Raider casually chucks attempted sexual assault towards Lara in an attempt to make her seem ‘hardened’. As with 99% of games with violence as well, it can often feel grossly gratuitous.
Thanks my government you saved the kids from seeing drugs in 1 media, when thousands of other exist!
Netflix Aus has shows that revolve around drugs in some shape or form but it's fine!
I see GTAV and basically any other hyper violent, and drug infused games with torture etc. from a BIG developer with lobbyists gets a pass. If you're going to have rules at least be consitent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games_in_Australia
@nessisonett I haven’t played many Japanese titles but you’re absolutely spot on regarding Tomb Raider, somehow forgot about those scenes in the first reboot
@2cents Mine were jokes. I love living in America! Wouldn’t live anywhere else. People that complain about living here should live somewhere else for awhile. They would quit complaining.🤷♂️
Sadly not the first or last game to be hit with the ban hammer here. For the uninitiated,when game classification rules got updated a few years ago they did create an "adult/R18+" category but in reality it really carried over the same legalities of MA15+. Movies can get away with far worse,but not games. Fallout 3 was initially banned until they changed drugs to being vitamins!
Crazy thing is to change the laws it requires common agreement of all Australian state's (different political parties),,attorney generals & then be altered at a federal level...so needless to say progress on ever fixing such things is glacially slow!🙄
As pointed out on the local kotaku,Valve might need to remove it from Steam now it has been rated unless they appeal or address it.
@Robocod Thanks for the explanation. I had no idea there had to be that degree of consensus before the law could be changed. It was nice to see an informative comment mixed in with the expected cries of “boo censorship”.
I think we forget sometimes that government censorship laws are often written and carried out by people who are democratically elected. If censorship doesn’t sit well with you, vote for someone who will do something about it. Barring that, you could always protest by creating a US/UK account to circumvent the ban.
@2cents Sorry but did you just put sex, violence and cruelty on the same level?
That strikes me as very funny!
Censorship of art is always bad and dangerous.
I was looking forward to this anyway, but now that censorship has reared it's ugly head, this has become a mandatory buy. A ratings system should be all the censorship necessary for a free thinking society. Otherwise, it's a mild form of burning witches and staking vampires.
So we can't get a game released here, yet people can walk freely around sporting mullets? (Which for some reason are making a comeback😬)
I’m pretty pissed about this as was really looking forward to playing. Thinking I will import a disc edition from overseas when there is a physical release. At the moment I can only see a collectors pack though and I’m not forking over $250. >.<
As for the Australian censorship, GTA and other games get by because you can do drugs etc but you don’t need too, to complete the game. You aren’t incentived to use them and you don’t get a reward and it’s not part of core gameplay. AU laws don’t want drugs to seem like a ‘good’ and ‘normal’ thing. It is annoying, that’s what a R18 rating is for but it’s not merely drugs are in it.
I don’t get why Australians would want to keep that board around
Illiberal country refuses release of a game...
Australia's history with video game censorship is appalling and this is sadly utterly unsurprising.
Some countries still cannot get it into their heads that just because something is a "video game" doesn't mean it's meant for children. This is why these countries allow films and TV with precisely the same level of adult content but exempt video games from this. Grow up Australian politicians! (Not the country, sure plenty of Aussies are well and truly fed up of all this censorship)
@Amnesiac Thanks! Yep,quite used to to seeing such things when this rears its head,sadly! The local Kotaku writer breaks breaks things down pretty well....2013 was the last update to the gaming laws here,(from the original ones in the 1990's),& another review is currently gathering dust apparently! 🙄
https://www.kotaku.com.au/2021/03/now-its-disco-elysiums-turn-to-be-refused-classification/
Though its easy for people to then start getting politicised,the fact is most pollies aren't gamers & are more worried not upsetting their moral bases if they're seen to be too lax. It's the inconsistent way some games run foul that's most annoying. Some of the bigger releases ala Rockstar, Cyberpunk,Bethesda,We Happy Few generally get through the hoops or after alterations & appeals.
But then,stuff like Mother Russian Bleeds got taken off PSN here after the Switch version was denied! Think Katana Zero was denied here too! (Which doesn't bode well if it ever gets a ps4/ps5 port). Its a sad situation to need to create a new fake profile for a handful of games!😕
Never trust a country where you can't buy you beer in a supermarket
What a joke? It is a work of fiction not reality Australian censors. Imagine the government telling people what they can and cannot do. It's stunning the level of governmental tyranny people put up with.
this remind me of when Australia rating board banned Madworld for sales.
isnt PS5 region free?if so gamers that have PS5 can buy the USA or european version of this game.
Psssst... hey Liam: “Aussies”. 😼
To the article - yeah the ACB is an absolute joke and nightmare where computer games are concerned (see also when they banned Silent Hill Homecoming over two cutscenes they thought were too graphic). I think they all want us playing nothing more subversive than Super Mario... 🙄
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...