We Happy Few developer responds to ban by Australian Classification Board

UPDATE 24/5/18: The Australian Classification Board has released a new statement, more fully explaining its reasoning for refusing to classify Compulsion Games' upcoming dystopian survival adventure We Happy Few, effectively banning it from sale in the country.

As expected, it's the game's depiction of drugs that has fallen foul of the board's strict rules. The board believes that We Happy Few's "drug-use mechanic making game progression less difficult constitutes an incentive or reward for drug-use and therefore, the game exceeds the R 18+ classification that states, 'drug use related to incentives and rewards is not permitted'".

To support its point, the board highlights the fact that "If a player has not taken Joy, NPCs become hostile towards the player if they perform behaviours including running, jumping and staring. An NPC character called the Doctor can detect when the player has not taken Joy and will subsequently raise an alarm. A player that takes Joy can reduce gameplay difficulty, therefore receiving an incentive by progressing through the game quickly."

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Source: We Happy Few developer responds to ban by Australian Classification Board