Valve wasn’t expecting Australia to ban Left 4 Dead 2, and the news surprised and “bummed” everyone on staff.
If you haven’t heard yet, Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification decided not to classify Left 4 Dead 2, a move which will basically ban the game from sale down under. It’s definitely bad news for Australians who’d like to buy and play the game, and hasn’t gone over so well over at Valve HQ either.
“We were surprised to hear of this news yesterday,” Valve’s Doug Lombardi said. “Obviously, everyone at Valve is pretty bummed. It would be a shame if folks in Australia, or anywhere else, are unable to purchase Left 4 Dead 2 because of a ratings issue.”
Lombardi says that it “would be a shame,” but it’s pretty much certain that Australians won’t be able to legally purchase Left 4 Dead 2 based on the Office of Film and Literature Classification’s rationale for denying the game classification. No, it wasn’t because they think Valve are abandoning Left 4 Dead 1 for an easy cash-in sequel.
“The game contains violence that is high in impact and is there unsuitable for people under 18 years to play,” the Office wrote, pointing out the “high impact” nature of the melee weapons and the ensuing gore as major reasons for refusing the game classification.
So if Valve wants to make this game legal to sell in Australia, they’ll have to well, basically remove the melee weapons and anything and everything violent in the game. And while the idea of a pacifist zombie survival game certainly is intriguing, I doubt it’s going to happen.
[Via Shacknews]
