We’ve learned RimWorld got its Australia ban lifted, making the game available to purchase in the sometimes backwards yet always upside-down nation.
A newly published statement from the Australian Classification Review Board confirmed the original denial has been overturned, following an appeal made by developer Ludeon Studios.
“The game includes fantasy drug use, but in the Review Board’s opinion, the game mechanic ultimately provides disincentives related to drug-taking behaviour, to the point where regular drug use leads to negative consequences such as overdose, addiction, and withdrawal,” the statement reads.
“Players may choose for colonist pawns to consume drugs in certain scenarios, but this greatly hinders player progress, as characters will succumb to addiction and must deal with long-term negative impacts of their drug use. The drug use is depicted at a distance through a top-down perspective, in a highly stylised, simplified form. The game also contains high impact themes that are justified by the context of colonists surviving in an inhospitable fantasy world.”
Getting refused a classification in a specific country is the same as having it banned from sale essentially, at least on game console digital stores and retailers – sometimes affecting Steam. While RimWorld got its Australia ban lifted, when the original rating rejection came the game was still available on Steam in the region, but later got pulled.
Other examples for refusal of classification in Australia include titles like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Wasteland 3, Mary Skelter 2, and Disco Elysium – The Final Cut, except in those cases they remained for purchase on Steam.
In related news, RimWorld just got an update adding full Steam Deck support – so the massive sim game is now better equipped to be played on the go. Though RimWorld got its Australia ban lifted, when the original Australia rating was refused it also leaked that console ports were also submitted, so we’ll likely hear about those soon.
RimWorld is available on Windows PC, Linux, and Mac via GOG and Steam.
