banned

Agony censoring extreme content; beyond “Adults Only” rating

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Agony censoring extreme content; beyond "Adults Only" rating 1

Agony is a game developed by Madmind Studios and has been heavily censored due to the controversial nature of its content.

It’s so bad that the dev team no longer allowed it to be planned as an Adult Only game due to legality. They announced that it would be banned and they’d be sued if they kept it the way it was. However, they were able to get some content approved by PEGI and similar rating organizations.

Agony was originally a failed Kickstarter campaign that didn’t get the funds needed to complete the game. It has you avoid monsters in an evil place and you need to escape it by following a goddess. It’s a horror first-person survival game released on Steam, Xbox One, and PS4 on May 29th.

Now, only a few seconds from two out of seven endings will be censored with some other unlockable scenes. The following will still be included in Agony:

  • Gore
  • Brutal Sex Scenes
  • Lesbian and Gay Sex Scenes
  • Genital Physics
  • Eye Gouging
  • Heart Plucking
  • Children Heads Exploding
  • Setting Fire to Martyrs and Demons
  • Intense Violence
  • Strong Language
  • Drugs

But the rest will be cut out.

They released a comparison video on May 30th, which showcases the differences of what got removed from the original version.

 

We Happy Few banned from release in Australia due to “drug use”

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We Happy Few banned from release in Australia due to "drug use" 2

Indie survival We Happy Few has reportedly been banned in Australia due to drug use.

The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts gave the game a “refused classicization” rating which means it’ll basically be illegal to distribute in Australia. The reason has to do with drug use, which is obvious if you’ve played the game. It takes place in an alternate timeline back in history and is based on the roles of denizens who take a fake drug called Joy that keeps them calm and relaxed in order to forget about WWII.

Players play as 3 different protagonists who decide to stop taking the drug and need to traverse the world as it really is rather than the illusion that Joy makes it. It’s also a part of the gameplay; if you don’t take Joy, it makes the game significantly more difficult because guards will catch you easily. Completing objectives also gets difficult as a result of that.

The game was banned because it’s possible to take Joy during the game. And thus, this is “drug use.” The report does acknowledge that drug use is optional and that there are “alternative methods to complete the game,” but it also notes that “gameplay requires the player to take Joy to progress,” which is doubly confusing. Australia has a rating classification which states that “drug use related to incentives and rewards is not permitted.”

Other titles that were banned include Outlast 2, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, and South Park: The Stick of Truth, which all got the ban hammer from Australia’s Classification Board. Whether or not developer Compulsion Games and publisher Gearbox will try to release a censored version of the game is still unknown, but it’ll likely be difficult given the game’s mechanics.

As for the rest of the world, We Happy Few will be rolling out in mid-2018. Players who have bought the game in Australia will likely receive a refund.