Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number refused classification in Australia

A screenshot from Hotline Miami: Wrong Number

Australia has a record for banning games they deem as too violent and it looks likes like Dennaton Games upcoming 2D top-down action title Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is the latest to join the banned list. According a latest report by PlayerAttack, the game has been refused classification in the country which basically means that it will not be available for sale in the region.

As for the ‘official reason’ why the Hotline Miami 2 has been banned, the Australian Classification Board website states that the game was refused classification under the National Classification Code as it falls under the category of games which "depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified."

So even the introduction of an R18+ rating for video games in Australia is not enough to save titles from the Australian Classification Board banhammer. This makes Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number the latest title to join the long list of banned games in the region, some of which include Saints Row IV and South Park: Stick of Truth.

Both these games were also refused classificatio but were eventually modified and granted ratings. So the only choice for publishers Devolver Digital is to resubmit a modified version of the game to the Board and appeal for the rating. Or they could just give Australia a miss.

Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is slated to release in the first quarter of 2015.