Dystopian Survival Game "We Happy Few" Is No Longer Banned in Australia

We Happy Few will now be released as an R-rated game.

Australia has a history of banning video games deemed to be too violent or sexually explicit. But we also have a history of overturning those bans too.

Take the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series for example, one of the most popular video game franchises to ever exist. Back in 2001, GTA III was banned for sexual violence and later overturned, receiving an MA+ rating.

In 2004, GTA: San Andreas was banned too, only to be reviewed, with a censored version later being re-released.

Fast forward to 2018 and nothing has really changed in that respect. We Happy Few, a game that sees players attempt to escape a dystopia where everyone is under the influence of a drug that keeps them happy and unaware of the crumminess around them, was refused classification in May by the Classification Review Board due to its themes. Refusing classification means the game cannot be sold, hired, advertised or imported into Australia. It's banned.

A few weeks ago, the board decided to review their decision after the game's developers urged them to reconsider.

In order to receive a classification, according to the board's guidelines, the impact of the game's themes (particularly relating to drug use) must not exceed their definition of 'high'. Yesterday, the board released a statement concluding that this was not the case.

"A three-member panel of the Classification Review Board has unanimously determined [the game be] classified R 18+ (Restricted)," the statement read.

"The overall impact of the classifiable elements in the computer game was no greater than high."

With obvious references to the classic Orwell book 1984 as well as Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, We Happy Few is certainly going to be a spooky world to play in, but it's now no longer an illegal one.

Earlier this year, Student Edge investigated why Ali Wong's Netflix special Hard Knock Wife was given an R-rating while movies like Deadpool 2 were given the lesser MA+.

The Classification Review Board revealed to Student Edge that Netflix had its own classification system, but after reviewing Netflix's rating decision, the board overruled it and gave Hard Knock Wife an MA+ rating instead.

We Happy Few is set to be released to PC, PS4 and Xbox One on 10 August.