Saints Row 4 banned in Australia after being refused classification

Written by Brandon Hofer on June 25, 2013

Saints Row 4 News: The ACB has deemed Saints Row 4 to be inappropriate and not worthy of being released despite the new Adults rating that is in effect.

The Saints Row 4 release date in North America is on August 20 and worldwide on August 23, unless you live in Australia. The Acting Director of the Australian Classification Board (ACB) Mr. Donald McDonald revealed that Saints Row 4 is the first game in Australia to be refused classification under the “Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games” that commenced on January 1, 2013.

The Australian Classification Board classified the game RC (Refused Classification) because, in the Board’s opinion, Saints Row 4 includes interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are “not justified by context.” They continue to say that the game includes elements of illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives and rewards. Apparently such depictions are prohibited by the computer games guidelines.

This is especially puzzling since Australia finally got an “R18+” rating that was meant for these types of games. The type of game that isn’t suitable for children but is meant for adults to play. Mr. McDonald said that the Classification Board had now been applying the new computer games guidelines for almost six months and Saints Row 4 was the first title to be refused classification.

“Apart from today’s decision, since the beginning of the year, the Board has classified 17 games R18+ under the new guidelines,” Mr. McDonald said.

It would appear that the new R18+ rating doesn’t really mean a whole lot as the Australian Classification Board still intends on censoring games that, in their opinion, don’t fit the image that video games should be.

When making decisions about games, the Australian Classification Board uses the criteria set out in the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games Act) 1995, the National Classification Code and the Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games.

The new Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games came into effect on January 1, 2013. Prior to then, Australia did not have an adult category for games and, it appears, they still don’t really have based on this decision to refuse classification to Saints Row 4.

An application to classify Saints Row 4 was received by the Australian Classification Board on May 13, 2013. What do our Australian readers think about this? Will you simply import the game now? Saints Row 4 is slated to hit the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.