By now, we're accustomed to platform holders like Apple refusing to carry games and apps with questionable content on their digital storefronts. We're less accustomed to national governments stepping in to decide what apps can and can't be downloaded within their borders.

That's just what Australia is set to do tomorrow, though, as a new pilot program will ban hundreds of mobile titles that have been "refused classification" in the country on platforms like Google Play. Starting July 1, those titles will be effectively banned in Australia, according to an ABC report.

The Australian government announced back in March that it was working with the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) in an attempt to rate the hundreds of thousands of games being added to digital storefronts. Under the IARC system, developers fill out a questionnaire detailing in-game content like violence, crime, sexuality, gambling, language, discrimination, controlled substances, "crude humor," and "scary elements." Those answers are then automatically converted into local age ratings using standards set by the individual ratings boards in participating regions, including Australia, the US, UK, Canada, Brazil, and much of Europe. IARC content ratings can be amended or changed based on player complaints after the fact.

Since announcing that test months ago, the Australian Classification Board said it has looked through a back catalog of over 150,000 games and "refused classification" for over 260 that are listed on the Australian Classification Board website. The Board said it would "audit a large number of classifications made by the IARC tool to ensure they reflect the Australian community’s expectations and standards. The Board also has the power to revoke classifications made by the IARC tool if it decides it would have given the game a different classification." After an initial 12-month test, the Australian government will decide if IARC's digital ratings should be made a permanent part of the Australian game classification system.

So far, Google Play and the Firefox Marketplace are the only major digital storefronts to support this IARC rating system, and the vast majority of games that have been refused classification thus far are from Google Play. The international organization says it expects Microsoft's Xbox Live, Nintendo's eShop, and Sony's PlayStation Store to join "at a later date." Apple, whose iOS apps are rated by an internal content rating program, is not part of the IARC system and doesn't seem affected by Australia's experiments with mobile game banning thus far.

Some odd choices

Though the Australian Classification Board said the IARC system is intended to "ensur[e] users, particularly parents, are better informed about what types of games are being played on mobile devices," the Classification Board site doesn't give any specific details for why any of the hundreds of mobile titles were refused classification. That's not a glaring omission for many of the selections; it's not too hard to guess why titles like, orran afoul of the classification board's views on drugs, violence, gambling, and sexual content, respectively.

But there are some confusing inclusions on Australia's list of newly banned games. A series of Sherlock: Criminal Case investigation games are refused classification in Australia despite receiving E10+ ratings from the US Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). Color-matching puzzle game Pinpoint, cutesy match-three title Pop Pet, and jigsaw game Japan Puzzle also make Australia's banned list despite receiving E ratings in the US.

Some other games that are now banned in Australia seem to have international IARC ratings out of step with the bulk of their content, at least on first glance. Simplistic tic-tac-toe game TicTacpinky receives an Adults Only rating in the US thanks entirely to "Crude Humor," according to its Google Play listing. Kids dress-up app Fairy Creator receives an M rating in the US for "suggestive themes," possibly because screenshots show the tiny fairies in bathing suit-style underwear before you start dressing them up. Animal Hunter 3D gets an AO rating in the US despite content that seems entirely similar to the T-rated Big Buck Hunter games (though we suppose it's possible there's a naked lady hidden somewhere in there). While these ratings don't carry the force of law outside of Australia, they're still a bit baffling.

Before expanding to mobile games, the Australian Classification Board had refused classification to about 80 retail video games since 1995, effectively banning popular titles like Fallout 3 and Aliens vs. Predator from sale in the country. That process relaxed a little in 2013, when the country finally introduced an 18+ rating to allow the sale of games meant strictly for adults. That new rating didn't help, though, which earlier this year was refused classification in Australia over an implied rape scene (leading the developer to urge Australians to "just pirate it" ).

While titles that are refused classification "cannot be sold, hired, advertised or legally imported in Australia," as the Classification Board puts it, there are limits to how well this scheme can be enforced in the world of digital distribution. Android users can sideload APKs of banned games found outside the Google Play store, and determined users can hack their phones to fake their location to access the store available to other regions.