Though Australia
recently added
an adult-oriented R18+ rating to their game rating system,
Player Attack reports that
Saints Row IV has nevertheless been
refused classification in the terrirory, being deemed too much for delicate
Aussie sensibilities. This means, pending a potential appeal, while it will
be legal to own, it will not be permitted to publicly sell or display the next
installment in Volition's open-world action series. The site cites how the game
violates the R18+ specification, as games are not to "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." Here are
the specifics of how Saints Row IV runs afoul of this:
In the Board’s
opinion, Saints Row IV, includes interactive, visual depictions of implied
sexual violence which are not justified by context. In addition, the game
includes elements of illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or
rewards. Such depictions are prohibited by the computer games
guidelines.