No Syndicate in Australia

Written by Eric Yee Thursday, 29 December 2011 18:01

Australia's Classification Board has refused to give a rating to Electronic Art's Syndicate a rating, meaning that the publisher will not be able to sell the game in Australia in it's current form. The highest rating possible by the current model of Australia's Classification Board is MA15+, which means that any video game released must be acceptable for teenagers as young as fifteen.

The reason that Syndicate was denied a rating was reportedly due to the excessive amounts of violence in the game. The report from Australia's Classification Board cites, "combatants take locational damage and can be explicitly dismembered, decapitated or bisected by the force of the gunfire." The report goes on to mention, "the depictions are accompanied by copious bloodspray and injuries are shown realistically and with detail. Flesh and bone are often exposed while arterial sprays of blood continue to spirt from wounds at regular intervals."

EA has responded to the ban in Australia by stating that they will not appeal or alter the game and due to Australia's rating system, the game will simply not be released there. "The game will not be available in Australia despite its enthusiastic response from fans. We were encouraged by the government's recent agreement to adopt an 18+ age rating for games. However, delays continue to force an arcane censorship on games - cuts that would never be imposed on books or movies," said EA corporate communications exec Tiffany Steckler. "We urge policy makers to take swift action to implement an updated policy that reflects today's market and gives its millions of adult consumers the right to make their own content choices."