World of Warcraft Wasn't a Computer Game

In a way, and not a very far-fetched way, World of Warcraft has been sold illegally in Australia. The game never received an official content rating and according to Aussie law a game must be rated and approved by the Classification Board of Australia before it can be sold. This never happened, so one must wonder about the legal ramifications of this. But finally, the game has entered the boundaries of the law, and with the new modification to the rating classification it can no longer fear any persecution.

WoW, along with its two expansions, The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, have received an M for Mature rating for “fantasy violence” as well as the “online content variable” label. Blizzard was aware of the rating issue, which was part of the Australian rating legal system ever since the game was launched in 2004, and has tried ever since to solve the problem. “Blizzard Entertainment has always worked closely with the Classification Board for all its titles,” the company told GameSpot AU. “However, back in 2004, we were advised by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) that the online-only nature of World of Warcraft was unclassifiable under its definition of computer games at that time. Recent changes at the Classification Board have led to their ability to classify online only games such as World of Warcraft.”

Apparently, the problem didn't lie in the same place as it did for Left 4 Dead 2 for example, which was too violent and gory, but in a completely different place. “It is the Board's view that World of Warcraft meets the definition of a computer game provided in the Classification Act and therefore can be classified,” the Australian Board told GameSpot AU. "This is consistent with the intention of the National Classification Scheme to provide parents and consumers with classification advice on the content of games.”

It took them five years, five years to realize that World of Warcraft is a computer game. Now it's true that some called WoW “the devil's plaything,” others called it a “social experience,” some “home” and for some it even proved to be their final resting place, but everyone agreed from the start that it was without a doubt a computer game.