Hotline Miami 2 was denied classification in Australia, mostly because of a specific “rape scene”, which means it will not get a physical release in stores as most of retailers in the country won’t carry it.
In addition, the 3 big console manufacturers wont host digital copies of a game that was refused classification on their digital storefronts. This won’t stop dev. Devolver Digital from selling the game online. This isn’t censorship of the game as there are still avenues where they could choose to sell it in it’s current form to Australian consumers, but they will likely still end up having to change the game. If they want to actually SELL the game, a re-do may be the only way to go.
Here is a description of the scene in question:
“In the sequence of game play footage titled Midnight Animal, the protagonist character bursts into what appears to be a movie set and explicitly kills 4 people, who collapse to the floor in a pool of copious blood, often accompanied by blood splatter. After stomping on the head of a fifth male character, he strikes a female character wearing red underwear. She is knocked to the floor and is viewed lying face down in a pool of copious blood. The male character is viewed with his pants halfway down, partially exposing his buttocks. He is viewed pinning the female down by the arms and lying on top of her thrusting, implicitly raping her (either rear entry or anally) while her legs are viewed kicking as she struggles beneath him. This visual depiction of implied sexual violence is emphasised by it being mid-screen, with a red backdrop pulsating and the remainder of the screen being surrounded by black.”
Its important to note that there seems to be no story context for this “rape scene”, and that Australia did not refuse classification just because of the graphic,violent nature of the scene,rather it was refused because the scene does not appear to be in furtherance of any storyline,it’s there’s just for “shock value”.
It’s also important to note that this is not the same scene that initially caused discussion when included in an early demo for the game. The original rape scene cut away before anything was depicted, zooming out to show a movie set,giving the context that the rape was “not real”, but was part of a story being told in Hotline Miami 2’s larger world.
The classification report goes on to further to explain the decision”:
“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.”
It’s currently not clear how other countries and their classification process will decide in relation to the game.