Classification board overturns ban

The Australian Classification Review Board has overturned its previous decision to ban the video game Alien vs Predator, which prompted the manufacturer to launch a scathing attack on the Australian Government.

Previously the board deemed the game too violent for a rating, which resulted in a ban due to Australia’s lack of an R rating for video games – a hotly debated topic in the gaming community.

Usually game development studios in this situation make a censored version for Australian release, but Rebellion studios declined saying: “We will not be releasing a sanitised or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices”.

However, the board has now overturned the previous decision, allowing it to be released under an MA15+ rating.

“The violence is fantastical in nature and justified by the context of the game, set in a futuristic science-fiction world, inhabited by aliens and predators,” the board said. “This context serves to lessen its impact.”

“The more contentious violence is randomly generated and is not dependent on player selection of specific moves.”