The introduction of an R 18+ game rating in Australia seemed like an end to the censored versions and banned games there. However, the nanny state is not releasing its grip over what its citizens can see just yet. The full version of upcoming Saints Row IV has been refused classification. Twice.

Now Deep Silver/Volition has thus been forced to make a different version for Australia, which was submitted to ACB for another review. While there is no new information about the game on the Australian Classification board website, Australian distributor AIE Interactive sent a press release, announcing the MA15+ rating for the modified version of the game. Thankfully, this time censorship is much less damaging than before, with only a single mission getting cut due to "drug use related to incentives and rewards".

Publisher Deep Silver has said that the cut content was a Shaundi loyalty mission, where the player used narcotics to get superpowers.

"This mission represents approximately 20 minutes of gameplay out of the hours available to purchasers. The removal of this mission has no negative impact on the story or the superpowers and will not detract from the enjoyment players will get from their Saints Row IV experience."

On an another related note – ACB seems not very appalled over an Alien Anal Probe after all, which will still appear in Australian versions of DLC packs as well. Still, it is seems like overkill, when the difference between an MA 15+ game and a game that cannot be rated R 18+ and banned is less than 20 minutes of fictional drug use.