If ever a screenshot could be called prescient…

A few weeks back, Australian censorship body the OFLC (here represented by the chap smacking Australia in the gob) refused to classify Left 4 Dead 2, banning the game from being sold anywhere in the country. In the OFLC’s view, the zombie shooter “contains violence that is high in impact and is therefore unsuitable for persons aged under 18 to play.”

Publisher EA and developer Valve are still in the process of appealing this decision, but if that falls through (a verdict is due on October 22), Valve has a solution: censor the hell out of its game.

Valve’s Gabe Newell has revealed that a heavily edited version of Left 4 Dead 2 has now been submitted, and has passed the OFLC test gaining an MA15+ rating. Says Newell:

“We think Left 4 Dead 2 is a lot of fun. It’s a game for adults. But we’re aware that different countries have different restrictions, and we want to make the choices that make the game the most fun for that country.”

As it turns out, some big cuts have been made in this sanitized version. News.com.au reports that the OFLC found “the game no longer contains depictions of decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies lying about the environment.”

So Left 4 Dead 2 WILL be coming out in Oz now, though it’s likely to be a nicer, less gory version, with more kittens or something. The original build could still make it out, but we won’t know until a decision is made on EA and Valve’s appeal. It’s plain which version Valve want to see released, and Newell was quite clear about this:

“Our goal is not to ship this second version. The goal, of course, is to get the original version through the Board via the appeal process. If that fails, then the edited version is the back-up plan.”

Obviously, the elephant in the room is the OFLC’s inefficient rating system. Australia desperately needs an R18 classification for games, and until that happens, expect this story to be repeated again and again.

[News.com.au, via VG247]