Almost two months ago, Australia refused to classify Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, which actually meant a ban on the sale of the game. However, now a special commission has revised the decision and assigned an 18+ rating to the Estonian project, despite the harsh vocabulary and touching on topics like addiction.On May 11, the Australian Classification Review Board, which evaluates games, films and text materials, revised the rating of Disco Elysium: The Final Cut based on the following criteria:
- topics covered and interweaving into the narrative of alcoholism and other addictions;moderate violence that is justified by the narrative;
- implied sexual acts;
- rude speech and swear words that are often used aggressively;
- drug use, which is not encouraged and is not shown to be realistic;
- nude scenes — they are not in the game at all.
- As a result, the members of the commission considered that most of the elements of Disco Elysium fall under the category R18+ (only adults are allowed to buy), and some were even assigned an M rating (from 15 years old).
In particular, the published decision notes that the game, even if it clearly shows the process of using various stimulants and substances, punishes players for such actions. The commission also concluded that the detective story about an alcoholic policeman told in the game and the topic of fighting addictions are inextricably linked with each other.
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is an expanded RPG edition from ZA/UM, which was released for PC and PS4/PS5 on March 30. Initially, the Australian authorities assigned the project an RC rating (refused classification), citing moral violations, cruelty and drug use. Games and films with such a rating are prohibited for sale and advertising in the country.
At various times, many games have been banned in Australia. Some of them are The Witcher 2, South Park: The Stick of Truth and Wasteland 3 — eventually received acceptable ratings. They tried to ban all of them because of drug demonstrations, excessive violence or nude scenes.
However, there were more absurd cases. For example, in 2019, the Australian authorities suddenly banned DayZ due to the use of marijuana to restore health. At the same time, such an opportunity was planned to be introduced only in the supplement, and at the time of blocking it was simply not in the game. As a result, the project is still back on sale.