The designer behind Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number has told Australians to pirate the game after it was banned in Australia.
The Australian Classification Board banned the video game due to a "visual depiction of implied sexual violence" in the opening scene, where a woman is apparently raped in the middle of a murder scene.
On Jan. 14, the board refused classification and put Hotline Miami 2 in the category of computer games that "depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety."
The company behind the game, Devolver Digital, said in a statement it would not fight the ruling but disputed the claims regarding the problematic scene -- saying it had been misinterpreted.
"We are concerned and disappointed that a board of professionals tasked with evaluating and judging games fairly and honestly would stretch the facts to such a degree and issue a report that describes specific thrusting actions that are not simply present in the sequence in question and incorrectly portrays what was presented to them for review," Devolver Digital's statement read.
The Australian Classification Board's description of the Hotline Miami 2 scene in question is more graphic than the actual scene.— Fork Parker (@ForkParker) January 15, 2015
Unlike other game developers, Devolver Digital said it would not be editing the game for classification purposes.
The company instead made it clear it will "stand by our developers, their creative vision for the storyline, its characters." It also stated there is a softer version of the game, that could be selected at the player's discretion, where sexual violence is not depicted in any form.
One thing the statement failed to mention was how an Australian fan could get their hands on the game in the aftermath. Perplexed Hotline Miami fan Max Cartwright wrote to the Swedish game designer Jonatan Söderström asking how to go about buying the game.
Söderström replied: “If it ends up being not released in Australia, just pirate it after release. No need to send us any money, just enjoy the game!”
A spokesperson for Devolver Digital confirmed the exchange, which was posted on Reddit, via Twitter. Get ready to torrent to your heart's content.
@benkuchera @cactusquid That was him.— Fork Parker (@ForkParker) January 15, 2015
Australia introduced R18+ ratings for video games in 2013, to bring the classification system in line with international standard. Since then, three films besides Hotline Miami 2 have been refused classification. These include State of Decay, Saints Row 4 and South Park: The Stick of Truth. These games were edited, and released in Australia after being granted new classifications.