Previously, the Australian Classification Board refused to provide a rating for DayZ due to its in-game references to drugs. Now, the game has been censored and the board is happy, so they’re giving the game a go-ahead for release in the upside-down country.
The zombie survival sandbox game has been given an MA15+ rating (via Kotaku AU), meaning it’s ok to sell the game on Australian shores.
It’s worth pointing out the game never had actual drug use, merely references to the cannabis plant, more commonly known as marijuana. To comply with Australia’s notoriously strict ratings board, they actually removed the drug references from the game, worldwide.
The ratings board turned the game down due to “illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards,” with the aforementioned references of the drug. An item or plant crop hadn’t been implemented into the game yet, but the mere mention of it was unacceptable.
Developer Bohemia Interactive said they censored the game worldwide because they didn’t want to “separate Australian players from the rest of the world, since many people play cross-region.”
The developer added, “We love that DayZ is the place to meet with friends and experience the game without dramatic regional lag.”
DayZ has been available for Windows PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.