There's been a big update on the Australian ban of Disco Elysium: The Final Cut - and
that is that this ban has now been revoked and it will be possible to be sold with an
R18+ rating.
Recently the channel reported that the game's previous Refused Classification decision was
set to be reviewed by the Australian Classification Review Board on May 11th.
While released worldwide March 30th, it had been banned in Australia in early March due
to what was described as "drug use related to incentives and rewards."
But, all of that now changes, with the Classification Review Board deciding to overturn the ban
decision and finding the game fit for an R18+ rating 100% uncut.
And this means that the game is now listed with an R18+ rating on the Australian rating
database.
The Review Board's decision report explains why the game's depictions of drug use should
be allowed to be sold uncensored in the country.
The report explains: "The primary means of interaction with the
game is audio and text-based, while the visual aspect is
secondary and stylised.
Due to the primary interactive vehicle, and the complex and nuanced representation of
the subject matter which tailors the storytelling to a mature audience, the Review Board considers
the appeal of the game to be skewed to an adult audience."
"The themes are related to the detective investigating a murder while also attempting to manage his
own alcohol addiction, and getting his life back together after his substance abuse.
The themes and drug references are inextricably linked."
"The game provides depictions of the consumption of a drug labelled "speed" and other terminologies.
In the Review Board's opinion, this game provides disincentives related to drug-taking behaviour,
to the point where regular drug use leads to negative consequences for the player's
progression in the game.
The game mechanic is designed to disincentivise and penalise increased consumption of drugs.
The drug use is depicted at a distance through an isometric perspective, and is depicted
in a stylised form, largely through text, accompanied by simplistic illustrations which
depict the drug product.
Players may choose for the character to consume drugs and alcohol but the act of consumption
is not explicitly depicted.
After the consumption of drugs, visual effects on screen implicitly depict the effects of
the drug, and there are subsequent changes to character statistics, including negative
outcomes."
And then: "In the Review Board's opinion, Disco Elysium
– The Final Cut has sufficient disincentives to drug use to enable it to be accommodated
within the R 18+ classification with consumer advice of 'high impact themes, coarse language
and drug references'."
And so, while the Classification Board forbids drug use related to incentives and rewards,
taking the nuance behind the game's depictions into account, and especially the disincentives
behind the usage, this outweighs any perceived incentives.
This now means Disco Elysium joins 2018's We Happy Few as a title that was banned for
drug use in the country but would later have the decision overturned.
The reasons behind We Happy Few's decision being overturned were similar in nature - with
it taking into account the overall themes of the game, how usage was presented to the
player, and that usage also posed disadvantages.
Drug use has always been one of the biggest areas for games to face issues in Australia.
One notable case of this is 2008's Fallout 3 - which got banned for its Morphine consumable
items.
This then led to Morphine being changed to the fictional Med-X in all versions worldwide,
and this is a change that has then been made to all future games in the series worldwide
as well.
While the Classification Board still has their policies on games that incentivize or reward
their use are not allowed, the recent guidance on the nuance that should be taken into account
means that this is something that can be seen with a lot more leeway.
And so, while this means that a game like The Bug Butcher would likely face issue in
the country - many other games may not.
The Bug Butcher is a game that was also banned for drug use related to incentives and rewards
in 2016 - and one that is otherwise a very child-friendly shoot 'em up but contained
an injectable powerup called "Speed Powerup."
And so, due to no penalties being applied when the powerup is used, nor no wider narrative
and overall context to take into account, this would seem to suggest that the game would
face issues in Australia - and this being content that was rated E10+ in North America
and 7+ in Europe.
What are your thoughts on Disco Elysium's ban being revoked?
And how do you feel about Australia's stance on drug use in games?
As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and, until next time, thank
you for watching.