Left 4 Dead 2 banned in Australia

If you live in Australia and desperately wish to play Left 4 Dead 2, prepare for some bad news.*

The OFLC, the notoriously hard-to-please censorship body that classifies all of Australia’s films and videogames, has given Valve’s shooter the banhammer. Officially, the game has been granted a “Refused Classification” rating, meaning it cannot be sold anywhere in Oz. Publisher EA had this to say in response:

“[We] are still working through the submission process with OFLC and want to explore all opportunities before making any comment.”

Sucks to be Australia then, but maybe this is for the good. After all, Aussies can easily import a copy from other PAL regions, and this news could reignite the debate about how badly Australia needs an R18 classification for games. Because seriously, it does.

* If you live in Australia and desperately wish to boycottLeft 4 Dead 2, you’ll now have to find something else to whine about pointlessly on the Internet.

[OFLC, via PALGN]