EA Slams Classification Board; Refuses to Censor Syndicate

Wednesday, December 21st, 2011

Games On Net says that EA Games will not release Syndicate in Australia, modified or not. They have released a statement heavily criticizing the Classification Board’s decision to ban the game.

It’s regrettable that government policy in Australia is denying adults the right to play Syndicate. The game will be not be available in Australia despite its enthusiastic response from fans. We were encouraged by the government’s recent agreement to adopt an 18+ age rating for games. However, delays continue to force an arcane censorship on games – cuts that would never be imposed on books or movies. We urge policy makers to take swift action to implement an updated policy that reflects today’s market and gives its millions of adult consumers the right to make their own content choices…

· We are not releasing Syndicate in Australia. The reason for this is because we do not have an R18+ in place as yet.

· We will not be appealing the RC decision. Syndicate is a game made for a mature audience and any changes to would significantly affect the game’s quality and appeal.

· Syndicate will continue to be released in New Zealand (unchanged) on the 24th February 2012, and has a confirmed rating of R18

EA chose not to release Syndicate for two reasons. Firstly, as mentioned, the game is designed for adults, not those under eighteen.

And secondary, it costs a lot of money to appeal the decision, and to send the game back to the developer so that they can tone down the content just for Australians and release it under the MA15+ banner. Other companies may do this, but not EA.

Syndicate Refused Classification

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

According to Kotaku Australia, the Classification Board has just slapped the Syndicate reboot with an RC rating.

games.on.net has managed to get a hold of the Classification Board’s report explaining why the game had to be banned. Matt Williams, the author of the article, has named two games that already feature the type of violence the report covers.

It is not clear what EA Games will do following this decision. They have three options on their hands. They can release the game in Australia, in a modified form; appeal to have the rating lowered to MA15+; or just refuse to sell the game in Australia.

Bulletstorm passed MA15+ uncut

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

Recently there has been concerns that Epic Games’ upcoming first-person shooter Bulletstorm has been modified to meet the game’s MA15+ criteria according to its rap sheet. But according to Kotaku Australia, this is not the case.

Kotaku has been speaking with both EA and the Classification Board about the matter. The Board states that just because the word ‘modified’ is used doesn’t mean that the game is watered-down.

We usually use the word ‘modified’ when we get a second version of the game in for classification, and that often happens for a number of different reasons.

“For example, if the game is multi-format, and the Wii version has extra characters, then we’ll term that version ‘MODIFIED’. Same goes for any other extra content – extra levels, stuff like that. It doesn’t have any bearing on the classification itself.”

EA confirmed that the Australian release would remain uncut, saying that the game’s ‘modified’ status is the result of the Bulletstorm Epic Edition as well as the extra content in the Gears of War 3 beta.

So, with adult-only games like Left 4 Dead 2 receiving watered-down versions while others like Bulletstorm are getting through unscathed, how can anyone have confidence in our game classification system? If every Attorney-General agreed to introduce an R18+ rating in Australia instead of dragging their feet, then Bulletstorm would have gotten the rating it deserved. Instead, it is rated MA15+, making it available to minors.

Bulletstorm will be released in Australia on February 22, 2011.

EA calls for R18+ rating

Friday, May 7th, 2010

The SCAG meeting takes place in Melbourne today, and we are yet to find out whether Australia finally receives an R18+ rating for video games. In the meantime, Frank Gibeau, president of EA games, has released a statement (through gamesindustry.biz) likening Australia’s refusal to add an R18+ rating is a form of censorship, and he urges the Attorney-Generals to vote unanimously in favour of the new R18+ rating. The statement reflects not only his views, but the views of his entire company that adult consumers can make their own choices.

Gibeau then goes on to explain the changes in the userbase, saying that the average age of gamers is 28, yet the rating system only goes up to MA15+. This “demonstrates a distance between those policies and the reality of the video game industry and the people that play interactive games in Australia today.” and the legislation “effectively censor[s] entertainment choices for adults.”

Read the full statement here. Note that you have to login or register with the site to be able to read it.

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On a different note, some users are posting irrelevant comments to articles or attacking other users. Anyone who is found flooding the comment section with nonsense or carries out attacks on others will have their comments removed. If you have something useful to say about an issue, then feel free to add your own opinion.

Censored L4D2 Receives MA15+

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Yesterday at a Sydney press conference Gabe Newell, managing director of Valve Software, revealed that their publishers Electronic Arts have lodged another, censored version of Left 4 Dead 2 to the Classification Board. Gabe stressed that this was merely a backup version in case the appeal process to have the original, uncensored version classified as MA15+ was unsuccessful, and that they would prefer not to have to use the censored version if at all possible.

This morning, we awake to the news that the Classification Board have granted Left 4 Dead 2 an MA15+ rating for “Strong, bloody violence”. According to Softpedia, this classification applies to the censored version, as the appeal process for the original, uncensored version is not due to commence until October 22.

Thanks to everyone who emailed in this morning with this news!