Deep Silver and All Interactive Entertainment have come forth with the information that a modified version of Saints Row IV has been accepted as MA15+ by the Classification Board, though a rating for the game doesn’t currently exist on the Board’s website.
Deep Silver have removed a mission involving a character named Shaundi, which included the alien narcotics that proved to be the main cause of the original version being refused classification. While a secondary reason – the use of an “alien anal probe” – was left out of the Review Board’s decision to support the refusal, Deep Silver have played it safe and removed a loyalty mission in which the weapon is used:
@Mario__Bones its also in a loyalty mission within the main game. we have removed that loyalty mission from the game for AU.
— Aubrey Norris (@Chupacaubrey) July 24, 2013
Deep Silver has previously said that its goal is to eliminate any offensive content to be released in Australia. But while it looks like the elimination of both points of contention in the original RC rating is a safe strategy, it may just be a foot in the door – as it plans to bring back the weapon, which it now refers to as a “Rectifier Probe”, later on in the form of DLC:
Theoretically, it could get the alien narcotics in through DLC as well, if it wanted. All up, it’s a very small amount of gameplay missing in the official Australian version, so the main thing is, we’re getting it. I’ll keep an eye on the Classification Board website to make sure the rating actually shows up, but safe to say, we’re getting it.