We’ve learned that We Happy Few has successfully appealed against their ban in Australia, and will now be sold under an R18+ rating.

The game was originally banned on May 21st 2018 due to its drug use, with “Joy” being a major plot element used to keep the people placid in Wellington Wells.

Both publisher and developer attempted to appeal the ban, and succeeded.

A news post on the Australian Classification Board website on July 3rd confirmed it, with a report delving into their reasoning deeper:

“A three-member panel of the Classification Review Board has unanimously determined that the computer game We Happy Few is classified R 18+ (Restricted) with the consumer advice ‘Fantasy violence and interactive drug use’.

The National Classification Code and Classification Guidelines requires the treatment of drug use to not exceed high at the R 18+ level. In the Classification Review Board’s opinion We Happy Few warrants an R 18+ classification because the interactive drug use is high in impact. The overall impact of the classifiable elements in the computer game was no greater than high.”

We Happy Few is launching across Windows PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on August 10th.