Games News

RimWorld is a 2018 Canada building simulation game by Ludeon Studios

The game was recently banned by the games censors of the Australian Classification Board. The ban applied to gaming consoles. The censors did not specify why the games is banned, just the usual worthless all encompassing stock statement.

At the time, everyone thought the PC version would remain unaffected, including developer Ludeon Studios who wrote:

We did not expect this to affect the Steam version because in previous similar cases, as with Disco Elysium for example, a Refused Classification (RC) rating on a console version did not affect the availability of the PC version on Steam.

I'm sorry this news was so sudden and for anyone who is frustrated by this, Ludeon Studios said. We are working to resolve this situation and make RimWorld available to everyone again as soon as possible, but we don't yet know what that might require or how long it may take.

Australian users that purchased RimWorld at any point from its debut way back in 2013 can still access the game. New buyers, however, will now have to buy the game directly from the official RimWorld website.

On March 4th Refused Classification reported that the 'Refused Classification' has mysteriously been removed from the censors' database. No doubt an explanation will soon follow.

Agony , a hammy survival horror game about a soul trying to escape Hell by finding someone called the Red Goddess, was released by Madmind Studios in 2018. An adults only version called Agony Unrated followed after some uncertainty. Perhaps due to censorship issues, the game was reportedly cancelled but somehow appeared on Steam anyway as a free bonus for owning the original game.

Agony Unrated later vanished from the Steam libraries of players who received it. Madmind Studio posted a blog explaining that the two games were delinked by Steam:

As most of you know, until now, if you bought Agony you also received a copy of Agony UNRATED in your library. This was always our intended way to do this and that didn't change. As some of you are also aware, games with themes similar to ours can often face some difficulties on this platform.

Unfortunately, we still don't have full knowledge on why they were delinked and we're unable to link the games again using our own tools, so we're now in contact with Steam support to work out the solution that'll satisfy everyone.

The reason that led to this situation is probably (that's our guess) because some players who intentionally bought the game in the censored version also got access to the uncensored version, which Steam did not want.

On February 23, Madmind explained it had put together bundles for Agony owners that would discount Agony Unrated to the maximum amount possible in each region, which is anywhere between 65% and 95% off. Obviously, that's not the same as free and is a temporary solution.

Martha Is Dead is a 2022 first-person psychological thriller by Wired Productions

Wired Productions describes the game as follows:

Martha Is Dead is a dark first-person psychological thriller, set in 1944 Italy, that blurs the lines between reality, superstition and the tragedy of war.

Martha Is Dead is only recommended for an adult audience and is not recommended for players who may find depictions containing blood, dismemberment, disfigurement of human bodies, minor nudity, and self-harm disturbing.

It seems that Sony have found the game somewhat distasteful and have demanded cuts before it is allowed to be played on PlayStation. One example of controversial content is provided by a Forbes article:

While there may be a few instances of "too far" violence, the one that keeps getting brought up is that a player cuts off the face of their dead sister. And it's not just that they cut it off, it's that the action is actually a minigame where you have to move the blade around and peel the face off.

Wired Productions have down explained more in a statement:

Martha Is Dead is a narrative adventure recommended for adult audiences only, with play consisting of potentially discomforting scenes and themes that may distress some players. Both Wired Productions and LKA have always been open and honest about Martha Is Dead content, with the sensitive depictions in play consistently communicated to the media since the game was announced in 2019. This content is also flagged clearly and repeatedly within the game itself before play begins.

It is with regret that we have had to modify the experience on the PS5 and PS4 versions, with some elements no longer playable. After over four years of passion and hard work, Developer LKA now requires extra time to make these unplanned changes. Martha Is Dead, as a result, will still launch digitally on both PS5 and PS4 on Thursday, February 24th, 2022, but the physical retail release will be delayed to a yet to be disclosed date; although we anticipate this to only be a small number of weeks. Our physical edition will still contain the bonus content of a double-sided poster, digital tarot cards and Martha Is Dead Digital EP. We will update players with the date we ship this edition as soon as we have the information.

The PC and Xbox versions of Martha Is Dead are both unaffected by these developments and will launch with the full unedited gameplay as planned.

We look forward to players experiencing the work of LKA on Thursday February 24th, 2022.