In the wake of Halloween: The Game being refused classification in Australia last week, and the subsequent confirmation that the game would not be available in Australia and New Zealand as a result, IGN reached out to IllFonic to clarify why the New Zealand release was affected. For example, Hotline Miami 2 is a game that was refused classification in Australia (and has remained so, unlike most high-profile RC cases, where developers typically make small changes to skirt the country’s classification guidelines). However, while Hotline Miami 2 is not available on storefronts in Australia, it is still very much available digitally in New Zealand. So the news of Halloween: The Game needing to be unavailable in New Zealand didn’t quite add up.
We’re yet to receive a response from IllFonic, but the studio has since announced that Halloween: The Game will be available in New Zealand after all, albeit in digital format only.
“We are extremely thrilled to announce that after receiving additional guidance from the OFLC, Office of Film and Literature Classification in New Zealand, Halloween: The Game will be available for sale digitally in the territory,” the studio published in a statement on social media.
“When we partnered with physical distributors (as we do not handle) to sell packaged goods in Australia and New Zealand, we learned that the ACB [the Australian Classification Board] rating (used for physical) took precedence of the IARC rating (used for digital). When ACB [sic] refused us a rating, it meant the removal of both physical and digital versions in those territories.”
Classification decisions made by the Australian Classification Board (ACB) itself do override automated decisions applied by the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) global rating tool (which spits out PEGI, ESRB, ACB, etc. ratings from a single, free online questionnaire). However, ‘refused classification’ (RC) determinations made by the Australian Classification Board are not automatically mirrored in NZ.
New Zealand’s classification system regarding video games is somewhat idiosyncratic. While the NZ classification system does, in fact, utilise some Australian and UK classification decisions as a shortcut to make its own classifications, this is applicable to unrestricted content. Content that has been specifically age-restricted in Australia or the UK, refused classification in Australia, or banned in the UK must otherwise be formally classified by NZ’s Office of Film and Literature Classification. In NZ, games are actually expressly exempt from labelling requirements and are not required to be submitted for local classification unless likely to be awarded an age-restricted rating – or have already been given an age-restricted rating (or RC/banned) in Australia or the UK. So, to be available on physical formats in NZ, Halloween: The Game was always going to need to be submitted to the NZ OFLC, because games with restricted content must be classified by the OFLC and carry a NZ label in order to be sold. No rating for Halloween: The Game appears in the NZ Register of Classification Decisions, making a physical release in NZ currently impossible, even if it had been successfully classified in Australia.
However, NZ’s Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 only really covers physical formats, which means games sold digitally don’t necessarily always have NZ classifications displayed.
As for Halloween: The Game’s RC status in Australia, which IllFonic’s claims it has made “every effort” to work past, IGN has specifically asked the developer if there is a reason the game can’t be altered to suit the classification guidelines. As the Australian Classification Board explained, “Halloween: The Game contains illicit drug use that is linked to an incentive or reward, in that use of the drug provides a gameplay advantage to the player.” While games can feature drug use in Australia, they can’t offer gameplay rewards or incentives. If they do, the Classification Board is obligated to give the game a ‘Refused Classification’ determination.
As we noted to IllFonic, developers typically skirt this one particular guideline in Australia with semantics. For instance, in 2013 State of Decay developer Undead Labs simply renamed the drugs in the game to vitamins in Australia to hurdle this whole issue. If the RC determination is indeed related to smoking marijuana as a perk to highlight the location of Michael Myers on the map, we’ve asked IllFonic for clarification on whether it’s been considered that this could just be referred to and regarded as tobacco in Australia.
Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.