Once again the upcoming Saints Row 4 has been denied by the Australian Classification Board. A three-member panel of the Australian Classification Review Board voted unanimously to classify the game as “Refused Classification.” The reasoning behind this decision is that they could not classify the game as R 18+ due to its inclusion of drug use related to incentives and rewards.
This was the second meeting of the panel involving Saints Row 4, as they previously convened on June 19. At that time, the board’s reasoning for not classifying the game as R 18+ was as a result of alien anal probe weapons and the use of “alien narcotics” involving superpowers. The publisher of the game, Koch Media, chose to ask for reconsideration on their initial decision, but it was to no avail.
As a result of this decision, Saints Row 4 will not be able to be sold or advertised in Australia. An edited version of Saints Row 4 has been submitted to the same classification board by Koch Media and it is unknown at this time if that version will be approved and classified as R 18+.
Saints Row 4 will be available in the US on August 20 for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.
