Warhorse Studio’s Kingdom Come: Deliverance, a game released in early 2018, has been banned in Australia. The game was officially refused classification (i.e. banned from sale) on July 30th, but only recently brought to attention by a twitter account that shares information about Australian censorship.
The game has been classified twice before on October 30th 2017, and again on May 7th 2019 for the Royal Edition, which includes all the DLC. Perplexingly, no new content has been released since the Royal Edition, which was given an 18+ rating.
The reason for the “refused classification” rating was not given, but Kotaku Australia speculates it might be due to an attempted rape scene in the latest DLC, A Woman’s Lot.
A Woman’s Lot follows the story of Theresa, Henry’s childhood friend, as she attempts to flee the Cuman invasion at the start of the main storyline. The scene in question features soldiers forcing Theresa against a wall in a non-interactive cutscene. One soldier attempts to lift up her dress, but she manages to escape.
The Australian Classification Board has been known to uphold strict rulings on games with sexual content. Hotline Miami 2 and Outlast 2 were refused classification for similar reasons. Recently, DayZ has been banned and then unbanned in Australia, following an update that removed drug use from the game worldwide. Meanwhile, We Happy Few was given a “refused classification” rating near its release date, and then later had it revoked without any changes. Then, earlier this year, We Happy Few was banned again.
What’s unclear in this situation is why the ban is occurring now. The Royal Edition, which contains A Woman’s Lot, was already approved. The base game was approved nearly two years ago. For now, it’s unclear if the entire game is banned or only certain content. Whether or not A Woman’s Lot has anything to do with the ban is just speculation at this point anyway.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance was just announced for inclusion in this month’s Xbox Game Pass, meaning Xbox fans outside Australia have a chance to pick up the medieval RPG if they previously missed it. A Woman’s Lot is also purchasable now, separate from the Royal Edition.
