State Of Decay Denied Age Rating In Australia

Undead Labs’ survival game State of Decay has become the second game to be denied an age rating by the Australian Certification Board, following its decision to refuse Saints Row IV an age rating.

The board’s refusal is down to the game’s use of drugs “related to incentives or rewards”. Here’s the original statement from the Certification Board, via Kotaku.

“The game contains the option of self-administering a variety of ‘medications’ throughout gameplay which act to restore a player’s health or boost their stamina,” it reads. “These ‘medications’ include both legal and illicit substances such as methadone, morphine, amphetamines, stimulants, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, codeine, aspirin, ‘trucker pills’, painkillers and tussin.

“Of these, methadone, morphine, and amphetamines are proscribed drugs and the term “stimulant” is commonly used to refer to a class of drugs of which several are proscribed.

Consumption of the drug instantly increases a player’s in-game abilities allowing them to progress through gameplay more easily. The Applicant has stated that a ‘player can choose not to make any drugs or scavenge for them, but it would be very difficult to complete the game without some form of medication’.

“In the Board’s opinion, the game enables the player’s character to self-administer proscribed drugs which aid in gameplay progression. This game therefore contains drug use related to incentives or rewards and should be Refused Classification.”

Considering how much State of Decay has sold already, becoming XBLA’s fastest-selling new IP, it’ll be a shame if it doesn’t see a release in Australia. Let’s hope things go well, and that a compromise can be reached.