The grotesque psychological horror adventure The Medium has been refused classification in Australia.
It was submitted for classification on 6th July this year and received an RC rating. Bloober Team is listed as the publisher and developer - confirming this is indeed the console exclusive game for Xbox Series X|S.
Kotaku reveals the local classification board didn't "directly" classify the game. It was done through the online IARC tool, meaning there's always the chance it was a system error or a "poorly-filled out" form (this has happened in the past with certain other releases).
The Classification Board also confirmed there's been no application for a physical copy of The Medium - suggesting there'll be no retail presence at launch.
This isn't necessarily the end of the road for The Medium releasing in Australia. The developer is reportedly looking into it, so it will likely be resubmitted. Some changes might need to be made to the game as well for this location.
Were you expecting something like this to happen with The Medium? Share your thoughts down below.
[source kotaku.com.au]
Comments 10
Australia is notorious for being tough to get games classified there. I watch a YouTube channel that has two guys from there on it & they complain about it all the time.
And this has me now thinking if it doesn't get released Down Under - is the Series S/X going to be region free like the Xbox One has been where you can just change your region and take advantage of GwG regional variations?
@Only1PJA i would assume it has to be region free if it is offering up smart delivery. As I could buy the US version of AC Valhalla on Xbox One, and will therefore have access to the Series X version. But i’m in the UK... so if they block cross region purchases, the upgrade wouldn’t work.
Plus Backward Compatibility. I have so many US games... uh oh. It better be region free.
@Only1PJA @K1LLEGAL
https://www.purexbox.com/news/2020/10/good_news_the_xbox_series_x_will_reportedly_be_region_free
@FraserG thanks buddy. I didn’t doubt it for a second
@FraserG steak sauce! Thanks for the confirmation
Being from Australia, I'm thinking the part that has issue with the ratings board is something that ends up being trivial.
It's a bit silly over here.
On regions: I've been building up my XBox library for XSX after playing Sony for the past couple of generations, and have been purchasing cheap UK and US codes, then activating via website through VPN.
Though i ran into issues trying to activate Sky Force, which is for some ridiculous reason, not available on the Australian store. So redeeming this way causes issues.
In thinking of changing region through website, though still need to change payment method to be from a US source, as it also checks CC/PayPal region for purchases.
This would be the very same scenario for Medium if it wasn't available in Australia.
Saying that, I'm hopeful the developers can come to a solution.
@JGRockford I managed to download Phantasy Star Online 2 from the US store when at the time it wasn’t on the UK store. Did it through the console by changing regions though I don’t know how frowned upon that is.
I didn't even realize this was considered 'grotesque'. Granted, I haven't seen much on the game yet but I haven't really seen anything grotesque.
@K1LLEGAL
Thanks. Still looking into it as Sky Force is heavily played in this household 🤗
Update:
I've been able to purchase a US gift card from a third party site, and purchase games not available in Australia (Sky Force and the Hotline Miami collection).
Be sure not to redeem in the regular page, but in the process of adding to your wallet on the game page (after you click "buy").
Hoping this helps with other games not available on Australia.
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