Valve Appealing Decision to Ban Left 4 Dead 2 in Australia

As previously reported, Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification recently refused to assign a rating to Left 4 Dead 2. By doing this, the game has essentially been banned down under – although it’s not as if the game is simply too violent for an adults-only type rating. The highest rating the OFLC can hand out is a 15+ and, unfortunately, they decided the “unrelenting violence,” “graphic depictions of blood and gore,” and “frequent and intense depictions of violence” in L4D2 wasn’t appropriate for 15 year olds. According to the OFLC’s report, a minority wanted the game to be issued the same rating that the original Left 4 Dead received, “an MA 15+ classification with the customer advice of strong violence.” 

Now Valve has appealed the OFLC’s decision to not assign the game a rating, Shacknews reports. An appeal was made on September 23, and with the game set to release on November 17, it shouldn’t be too long before we hear a response.

Tiffany Steckler, a spokesperson for publisher EA, spoke with GameSpot Australia (via GamePolitics) and expressed the company’s outrage over the OFLC’s decision. “It?s funny that a place like Australia, which has come up with some pretty violent material in the past with something like Mad Max, can effectively ban video games for the same reason,” she said. “EA believes that adults should have the right to make their own choices when it comes to the content they consume.”

Related

Valve Appealing Decision to Ban Left 4 Dead 2 in Australia

Rate this item left4dead2-24As previously reported, Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification recently refused to assign a rating to Left 4 Dead 2. By doing this, the game has essentially been banned down under – although it’s not as if the game is simply too violent for an adults-only type rating. The highest rating the OFLC can hand out is a 15+ and, unfortunately, they decided the “unrelenting violence,” “graphic depictions of blood and gore,” and “frequent and intense depictions of violence” in L4D2 wasn’t appropriate for 15 year olds. According to the OFLC’s report, a minority wanted the game to be issued the same rating that the original Left 4 Dead received, “an MA 15+ classification with the customer advice of strong violence.”  Now Valve has appealed the OFLC’s decision to not assign the game a rating, Shacknews reports. An appeal was made on September 23, and with the game set to release on November 17, it shouldn’t be too long before we hear a response. Tiffany Steckler, a spokesperson for publisher EA, spoke with GameSpot Australia (via GamePolitics) and expressed the company’s outrage over the OFLC’s decision. “It?s funny that a place like Australia, which has come up with some pretty violent material in the past with something like Mad Max, can effectively ban video games for the same reason,” she said. “EA believes that adults should have the right to make their own choices when it comes to the content they consume.”

You may also like...