GTA IV Banned and Then Un-Banned in Australia

It's not even out and GTA IV is creating waves of controversy. Last week, the British Board of Film Classification leaked details of the "offensive" actions that players could perform in GTA IV and now Rockstar has admitted that a "heavily" edited version of the game is set to make its debut in Australia.

The BBFC has classified the upcoming blockbuster as a R18+, which means that it is only suitable for sale and play by adults. The same rating has been awarded by New Zealand's OFLC and the German Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle, institutions that regulate the sale of sensitive material in their respective countries. So far, only the North American ESRB has offered a lower rating, of only M17+.

The problem with Australia is that the Office of Film and Literature Classification has a rating system which is based upon the one used by the BBFC in the United Kingdom with a few crucial differences. One of them is that the OFLC lacks a R18+ rating. The practical meaning for a game like GTA IV is that it could obtain such a rating and, because of the above mentioned difference, it could be effectively banned from being sold in the country.

Rockstar has already had issues with the OFLC in 2001, when it launched GTA III in Australia without a rating being attached. The game sold a significant number of units before the OFLC attached a R18+ rating, effectively banning it. Only after a few months a new version, heavily edited with the removal of all references to prostitutes, was released in Australia.

This time around, Rockstar made the sensible decision to dial down the level of violence and sexual references for its Australian version of GTA IV to make sure that the game gets its MA15+ rating and can put it up for sale when the release date of April 29 hits. It's highly unlikely that the OFLC will again issue a higher rating, but if it does Rockstar is prepared to further alter the game.