Australia passes censored version of Saints Row IV, incompatible with other versions
The Australian Classification Board has finally passed a version of Saints Row IV. The censored version had one piece of content cut from the worldwide release and will receive a MA15+ rating.
The original version of Saints Row IV was refused classification by the Australian Classification Board back in June and attempts at appealing the ruling have not been successful. The board has finally agreed to classify Saints Row IV after developer Volition removed a single loyalty mission featuring Shaundi and “alien narcotics” which according to publisher Deep Silver, represents about 20 minutes of gameplay and will not impact the game’s story. The game was also flagged by the board due to an “alien anal probe weapon” named the Recifier. The weapon however, will remain part of the game via DLC.
TheParanoidGamer has also learned that not only will Australians get a censored copy of the game, their version will not be able to play co-op with other versions of Saints Row IV.
“While we are very proud of all our different missions, we do feel that Saints Row IV on the whole remains largely the same without this single optional mission, and we also feel that you deserve to know what you are getting in Australia. Due to the changes we were forced to make, this version is different than the version rated by rating boards like the ESRB, USK, and PEGI, which is why it will be incompatible with those versions in co-op.”
It was also noted that only the Xbox 360 version of Saints Row IV will be region locked so players can technically import the uncut version on the PlayStation 3 and PC. However, importing the uncut version is technically not legal and is most certainly not recommended.
So if you happen to have friends in Australia whom you wish to play co-op with, I’m sorry to tell you that it is not going to happen.