Earlier this year, Rimworld was banned from sale in Australia after the Australian Classification Board refused classification for the console version. As a result, despite the game being available on Steam in the country since 2013, it suddenly disappeared. Today, however, that decision has been overturned.
As reported by Refused Classification, a Twitter account that explains which games can be purchased, their ratings, and which ones are banned in Australia, a four-member panel of the Australian Classification Review Board has now classified Rimworld as R18+. This is an adult-only rating, meaning that it should not be sold to anyone under the age of 18. The reasoning behind this rating is that the game contains high-impact themes and drug use, which won’t surprise anyone who has played it before.
The Australian Classification Review Board refused Rimworld’s console version classification and removed it from sale on February 28. At the time, developer Ludeon Studios didn’t expect the Steam version to be hit with the ban because of similar cases such as Disco Elysium when it comes to console version releases.
This latest decision was made by a separate body from the Australian Classification Board, one that reviews the decisions that the main body has made in edge cases such as these. It’s completely independent, and while it gives merit to the original decision, it still overturned it. This decision was likely influenced by the fact that the game has been on sale in the country for almost a decade with no such ban.
