Left 4 Dead 2 banned in Australia [Update]

Posted Sep 16th 2009 9:50PM by John Callaham
Filed under: FPS, Multiplayer, Left 4 Dead Series

Oh boy. Here we go again. The government of Australia has elected to ban yet another high profile upcoming game from being sold in that country. According to Kotaku Australia, the country's Classification Board has decided not to give Valve's upcoming zombie co-op shooter Left 4 Dead 2.

So far there's no word on why the game was banned. The original game, which came out a year ago, managed to get an MA15+ rating from the board. As we have mentioned many, many times before Australia does not have a rating higher than that which means any game with truly adult content cannot be sold there. Many games that were banned were later allowed to be sold after edits were made to their content. At the moment there's no word on what Valve and its publishing partner Electronic Arts plan to do about this situation.

Update: According to News.com.au it's the sequel's new melee weapons that have caused the game to be denied a rating with the classification board saying the new weapons "cause copious amounts of blood spray and splatter, decapitations and limb dismemberment" to the zombies.

Gallery: Left 4 Dead 2 Screenshots

Tags: australia, ea, electronic-arts, left-4-dead-2, valve

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Make it like TF2 lol. Posted at 10:30PM on Sep 16th 2009 by Cheesus(Crust)

1 word.
dismemberment.Posted at 11:01PM on Sep 16th 2009 by Sam

This classification non-sense and the Ausi version of the great fire-wall is making that country the laughing stock of the internet.

Just plain ick...Posted at 11:15PM on Sep 16th 2009 by Gripen40k

Show your support and sign below!

http://www.petitiononline.com/l4d2inoz/petition.htmlPosted at 12:10AM on Sep 17th 2009 by DogSoldier

ffffffffffffffFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.... you can't even bypass this on the PC version by importing because of Steam. Gawd the OFLC has double standards, there are games just as violent if not moreso already on store shelves, Fallout 3 for example and they only had a problem with the drugs in it!Posted at 5:45AM on Sep 17th 2009 by iHavepants {SteamPSN: Arkanti}

I guess the Australian ratings board is part of the botcott, then.Posted at 8:09AM on Sep 17th 2009 by SFLegend

This is just ridiculous. Fuck the Australian board, get together fellow gamers, the old government fucktards cannot keep playing bully with us gamers.Posted at 9:28AM on Sep 17th 2009 by blkrb0t

couldnt you guys just smuggle the stuff in via the black market? dont let some board room full of punters who dont even know you dictate how you can safely enjoy your spare time. even if your kids want to play these games. its not their decision, its yours as parents. theres a political agenda involved im sure. run for office and change things. Posted at 11:10AM on Sep 17th 2009 by goog9

Fascist government is fascist.

FAILPosted at 9:06PM on Sep 17th 2009 by James

Why don't they just rate it R18+?
Australia has no R18+rating for video games.
Why doesn't Australia have an R18+ rating for video games?
A single man, South Australian Attorney-General, Michael Atkinson doesn't want an R18+ rating, despite overwhelming public demand.
Why does one man get to determine what is right for everyone else?
The system is flawed.

Michael Atkinson has the appearance of a man who has never and will never actually play a video game, why then is someone with no actual experience in the industry in charge of what is acceptable conduct within?

It's time to send a message to Mr Atkinson, introduce a mature ratings system to the video game industry or turn over your duties to someone better qualified.

Contact The Attorney-General and tell him what you think:

Phone
8207 1723

Fax
8207 1736

E-Mail
attorney-general@agd.sa.gov.au

Postal Address
GPO Box 464
ADELAIDE SA 5001

Office
11th Floor, 45 Pirie Street
ADELAIDE SA 5000
Posted at 8:41AM on Sep 19th 2009 by Xee