Just how crazy is the new Saint’s Row IV, you ask? Crazy enough that the Australian Classification Board has given it the distinction of the being the first game to ever achieve a “refused classification”, effectively banning it from being sold, demonstrated, or even advertised for in Australia.

The reasoning behind it being that the game contains “drug use related to incentives and rewards”, which is not permitted by the National Classification Scheme, which outlines the conditions required for a game to be distributed in Australia.

The full statement from the board can be viewed here: *Warning .PDF file*

The board initially rejected the game on June 19th due to the game including “depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context,” but publisher Deep Silver appealed the decision. Following today’s announcement, developer Volition has announced that they are planning to alter the game to meet the review board’s criteria.

Personally, I was very impressed by the way Saint’s Row The Third managed to present all of the hyper-sexualization and violence of games in a completely tongue-in-cheek way, without giving offence.  And I’ll take offence at anything.

Although, with trailers that have been released so far, it’s clear that Volition is attempting to top the ridiculousness of the previous games, so it’s not hard to believe that there is a line that could have been crossed, resulting in the board’s ruling. I mean, this is a game series where I have spent an unreasonable amount of time throwing farts in jars at crowds of people. And they’re trying to best that top-notch entertainment.

I guess we’ll just have to wait until the game gets released on August 23rd to find out just how far the envelope can be pushed.