Australian ban of Disco Elysium: The Final Cut overturned

The expanded edition of the best RPG there is, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, was refused classification in Australia earlier this year. That didn't stop it from being available on Steam in Australia, however, as digital distribution sometimes flies under the radar—refusal of classification only bans sale within the country, preventing shops from stocking physical editions, while digital storefronts run overseas remain a gray area that can go either way seemingly at random.

It's an embarrassing failure of Australian law that even after fighting to get an R18+ rating for videogames, anything that features drugs with stat boosts—in Disco Elysium, taking speed increases motorics and psyche, though there are also negative consequences—will be refused classification. Now, after Za/um Studios applied to have the refusal reviewed on April 16, that refusal has been overturned and replaced with an R18+ rating.

The Australian Classification Board is usually blamed for decisions like this, but they're limited by the rules they're obliged to follow. The real problem is that thanks to a quirk of Australian law those rules can only be altered with the co-operation of every single state government, which is not exactly a priority right now. Until it becomes one this cycle will continue to repeat, with the Board initially refusing classification as the rules say they must, then reversing the decision in response to changes made by developers or an application and re-review, as in this case.

The document explaining the revised decision is an interesting one, once you get past the boilerplate, clearly written by people who understand Disco Elysium. They write that while it does contain drug use and explores themes of addiction, "The themes are related to the detective investigating a murder while also attempting to manage his own alcohol addiction, and getting his life back together after his substance abuse. The themes and drug references are inextricably linked." The conclusion calls it a "complex and nuanced representation of the subject matter which tailors the storytelling to a mature audience". Honestly, slap a score on the end and that's a review to be proud of.