Compulsion Games reacts to the refusal of the classification.

Kotaku reports that the Australian Classification Board (the ACB) has given We Happy Few an RC rating, which means they refused to classify the game, which is necessary to be sold „down under.” The reasoning follows: „The computer game is classified RC in accordance with the National Classification Code, Computer Games Table, 1. (a) as computer games that ‘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.”

Gearbox Software, who will be responsible for the physical edition of We Happy Few, hasn’t responded to the banning yet, but Compulsion did – they are already working on solving the issue by discussing with the ACB, and if they can’t strike a deal, then they will refund all the people affected. However, they need a bit of time for it. „We Happy Few is set in a dystopian society, and the first scene consists of the player character redacting material that could cause offense to “society at large,” as part of his job as a government “archivist.”  It’s a society that is forcing its citizens to take Joy, and the whole point of the game is to reject this programming and fight back. In this context, our game’s overarching social commentary is no different than Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, or Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. The game explores a range of modern themes, including addiction, mental health, and drug abuse,” Compulsion wrote on their website. The reason why the game got banned in Australia is that of the drug, Joy.

What about the Steam users? The devs published the same post on Steam, which means Australian Steam users can’t legally purchase the game, which has been in Early Access for a while. We Happy Few is set to launch this summer after a delay on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 as well. (What about those who already bought the game in Early Access, though? Are they getting no access to their already purchased product…?)

Source: GameSpot