DayZ is officially off the hook in Australia. After Australia’s Classification Board was set to ban Bohemia Interactive’s open world zombie survival game over its depiction of marijuana use, the Classification Board has issued a new MA15+ classification, allowing the game to be sold in the country.
However, the new classification comes at a cost, as a modified version of the game was submitted for approval. This version has removed the offending depictions of drug use from the game, which involved the use of marijuana as a health item. Frustratingly, marijuana isn’t currently in the official build of the game, as it was set to arrive via DLC. Even more frustrating is that this change affects all regions, so North American and European players get the censored version, as well.
This echoes a similar situation with Compulsion Games’ We Happy Few, where the game was initially refused classification over the fictional drug “Joy” being used in the game. The game was granted a classification on appeal, with no changes made.
The game is still not available for purchase in Australia yet, however that should change within the next few days.