On the 24th of February, The Australian Classification Board made their final decision about the upcoming game Mortal Kombat 9 after receiving the game on the 15th. It has been concluded that “the game contains violence that exceeds strong in impact and is unsuitable for a minor to see or play” and therefore will not be released in Australia.
A statement was receieved from Warner Brothers saying:
The highly anticipated video game Mortal Kombat, published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) in Australia, has been refused classification by the Australian Classification Board and will not release in Australia. We are extremely disappointed that Mortal Kombat, one of the world’s oldest and most successful video games franchises, will not be available to mature Australian gamers. WBIE would not market mature content where it is not appropriate for the audience. We understand that not all content is for every audience, but there is an audience for mature gaming content and it would make more sense to have the R18+ classification in Australia. As a member of the iGEA, WBIE is reviewing all options available at this time.
To see the .pdf document of the Decision Report click on the link below:
http://www.gamepron.com/imagery/MortalKombat-RC-AU-GamePron.pdf
Be warned, it contains graphic and violent descriptions of fatalities.
The reasons to why it is Refused Classification (RC) is not only because of the fatalities, but because of the graphics and detail the developers have put in the video game. Not only has the graphics greatly improved from Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, but is a lot more violent and realistic than any other Mortal Kombat game.
It is extremely sad for people like me, big Mortal Kombat fans, to hear this news. From Kotaku Australia and IGN, it is said that the game might be censored like L4D2 (How depressing), and the only way to get the game is to import it from the UK.
There will be more news on this, as soon as there are any more announcements on Mortal Kombat in Australia