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Halloween: The Game will not be sold in Australia or New Zealand, after the Australian Classification Board refused it a rating.
The refusal rests on the Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games 2023, which set out that a game is refused classification if it contains drug use tied to in-game incentives or rewards.
Reports describe the mechanic at issue as letting the player controlling the game’s survivor side smoke cannabis to reveal Michael Myers’ location on the map. IllFonic has not confirmed this detail directly. The refusal was not related to the game’s slasher violence; Australia’s R18+ classification tier, introduced in 2013, already accommodates games with graphic violence up to that level.
IllFonic confirmed the refusal on its official X account, stating that the decision blocks both physical and digital sale of the game in both Australia and New Zealand. The studio said the ban was not based on the presence of series villain Michael Myers or the game’s kills, but on the presence of a controlled substance.
The guidelines are specific on this point. Refused classification applies to material containing “illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards” — language that targets not drug use in general, but drug use that pays off in gameplay terms.
Consequences: the game launched digitally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on 8 September, with physical copies due 6 October. Neither edition is available for purchase through Australian or New Zealand storefronts. There is no equivalent classification ceiling for rewarded drug depiction the way there is for violence, which is why a game can clear the board’s violence threshold and still fail classification over a single mechanic.
— Gamers Classified, on behalf of the GC team.
Source: God is a Geek, The Guardian