Sinisterly

Looks like Rimworld is now banned in Australia, likely on the basis of its portrayal of drugs/violence. While it's incredibly cartoon-like in its visuals, there is the ability for your colonists to do drugs or perform organ-harvesting on prisoners. Being an absolute savage is not the objective of the game, but Australians will need to use a VPN to purchase it.

Quote:RimWorld is an engrossing simulator about overseeing a space colony—it's kinda like Dwarf Fortress in space. Because of the freedom it provides, and how detailed the simulation is, a lot of really dark things can happen, which is probably why the Australian Classification Board has effectively banned the game.

Stop right there though, because RimWorld has been available to Australian buyers on Steam since the beginning of its Early Access stint in late 2013. The reason for the game's new appearance on the Classification Board website appears to be due to imminent console ports: Double Eleven Limited is the applicant, a studio which has ported the likes of Rust to console.

A console port hasn't been announced for RimWorld, but it's apparently coming, and Australian console gamers won't be able to buy the game unless Ludeon Studios or Double Eleven make some changes. Here's the Classification Board's beef, by the way:

The computer game is classified RC in accordance with the National Classification Code, Computer Games Table, 1. (a) as computer games that "depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified."

Double Eleven (responsible for console) appealed the decision, and the AU government lifted the ban a couple months back:
https://www.classification.gov.au/about-...ified-r-18

I still really do not understand why it was banned in the first place. There is no part of this PIXEL ART game that "encourages" or "persuades" people to commit violence or use drugs. They should not have to justify it based on "oh but the game gives you negative consequences for this". Video games are not the root cause of people committing violence or taking drugs.

Tigger warnings - I don't mind in the slightest. At the end of the day, it's a nice heads-up to anyone who knows they may have issues with certain types of content so they have fair warning to steer clear. Nothing wrong with that. However, banning something like RimWorld starts to feel like the government are looking to control how you think, feel and respond to this kind of content, which doesn't help anyone. Hiding these topics doesn't teach people how to deal with them, or stop it happening. Pointless.

Oni

Oni

Jiggly