14 DAY TRIAL // Video game developer Undead Labs and publisher Microsoft announce that State of Decay has been refused an official classification for the Australian market, despite the introduction of a new R18+ level that should have suited the game.
All titles which lack a classification cannot be legally sold on the southern continent.
The State of Decay announcement comes after the teams at Volition and Deep Silver announced that their own Saints Row IV had not managed to secure a rating.
Jeff Strain, the public face of State of Decay, says that drug use was the biggest problem for his project on the official forums.
He adds, “We’re working with Microsoft to come up with options, including changing names of certain medications in the game to comply with ratings requirements. Whatever our path forward, it’s going to take a bit.”
It seems that Undead Labs is determined to change the game enough to secure the R18+ rating and deliver the zombie combat experience to Australian players.
Publisher Microsoft has also issued a statement saying that it will work to release the game in a modified form.
The Australian Classification Board says that, “These ‘medications’ include both legal and illicit substances such as methadone, morphine, amphetamines, stimulants, acetaminophen, ibuprofen, codeine, aspirin, ‘trucker pills,’ painkillers and tussin.”
The country prohibits the sales of methadone, morphine and amphetamines.
It’s unclear whether a simple name change throughout State of Decay would be enough to get it re-evaluated or if the simple act of using the drugs is the problem.
Fallout 3 also had problems with drug use in Australia, but changes linked to names and descriptions allowed it to secure a rating.
At the moment, Undead Labs is working on an open sandbox mode that will be delivered as DLC to State of Decay and it seems that a sequel is also in the initial conceptual stages.