The decision was made by the Australian Classification Board, which ruled that the game's contents rendered it unsuitable for sale. Original story: Survival horror game Outlast 2 has been refused classification in Australia, effectively banning it from release in the country. 'There will be only one version of Outlast 2 available worldwide.'

' Outlast 2 has been rated R18+ by the Classification Branch in Australia and will be released April 26, 2017,' it said. The game's developer Red Barrels confirmed in a statement to Press Startthat no changes were made to the game in light of the ACB's previous decision to withhold a rating. The ACB page for the game provides the following diagram, which reveals that the 'violence', 'sex', and 'themes' of Outlast 2 are classified as 'high impact'. Outlast 2 has been classified as R18+, the highest possible rating in Australia. Update 1: Upon re-examination of Outlast 2, the Australian Classification Board has decided to give the game a rating after all. There will be only one version of Outlast 2 available worldwide.' The game was then approved for release with an R18+ rating. 'In the second submission, the same game code was submitted with a video file reflecting the final game content.

This video file should not have been sent along with the game code, as its content was not representative of the final game. 'The original submission of Outlast 2 sent to the Australian Classification Branch contained the final game code and a video file for reference taken from an Alpha version of the game.

The info came to light in a statement to Eurogamer from Red Barrels. This video featured alpha footage of content which has since changed.

The copy of the game submitted to the ACB by Red Barrels was accompanied by a reference video which resulted in Outlast 2 being denied a rating certification. Update 2: It seems that the rejection of Outlast 2 by the Australian Classification Board was down to content that wasn't intended for the game's final release.

Outlast 2 initial release date