Following a turbulent and frankly amusing couple of weeks, DayZ's Australian ban is no longer official, with the country's Classification Board issuing a new MA15+ classification today.

The new classification is the result of a 'modified' version of the game submitted to the Classification Board. This version is more than likely the one which removes the offending depictions of drug use from the game. The offending content involved the use of marijuana as a health item in the game, and if there's one thing that rubs the board the wrong way, it's incentivized drug use. Weed isn't currently in the official build of the game, though it was set to arrive via DLC. Those plans have been thwarted.

The game is still unavailable to purchase on Steam at the time of writing, though that's likely to change in the coming days. 

The board has issued several 'Refused Classification' rulings of late, which means a title is effectively banned in Australia. Of most interest was yesterday's Bonaire, which is an unannounced Rockstar Games project, more than likely an expansion for Red Dead Online. But We Happy Few and Kingdom Come Deliverance have both been banned of late too, due to recent DLC additions. 

Cheers, Kotaku.

An Australian politician has said the country's decision to ban DayZ over in-game drug use has made it look like "the wet blanket and laughing stock of the whole world".

Tim Quilty, Liberal Democratic Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council, said the "absurd" ban was triggered by Bohemia Interactive's plans to include cannabis as a healing item. The developer hasn't yet confirmed which in-game item fell foul of the Australian Classification Board, but players can use morphine to heal and the game files mention cannabis, which is illegal in Australia. 

"What makes this ban especially absurd is that Australia has an R18+ classification for videogames...refusal of classification should be reserved for illegal materials, things like child pornography and snuff films that should never have been created in the first place. It should not be used for zombie survival videogames.

"Sadly, the developers of DayZ have caved," he said in the Parliament of Victoria on Thursday, referencing Bohemia's decision to change the game worldwide because of the ban. "Australia is once again the wet blanket and laughing stock of the whole world. It's an embarrassment that we obediently let our government treat us like children. While the rest of the world is legalizing cannabis, we are banning representations of cannabis in videogames."

You can watch his speech below.

Bohemia hasn't said how it plans to change the game to comply with the Australian rating system, but as Fraser pointed out it might be as simple as changing item names, in the same way Bethesda switched morphine to Med-X in Fallout 3.

DayZ has been having a bit of trouble in Australia recently. When the survival game's Australian distributor applied for a rating from the classification board ahead of the physical release, it was rejected. The rejection, effectively a ban, extended to the digital version, which was removed from sale. 

Last week, Bohemia Interactive told me that the rejection was down to the depiction of drug use and that it was looking to find a way to keep the game available in Australia. For the time being, it looks like that solution is a global change. 

So that Australian players aren't excluded, DayZ will be changed across the board, Bohemia Interactive told Kotaku Australia. 

"At the moment, we are editing the global version of DayZ so it will fit into the Board’s requirements. The key objective is to keep the gameplay as authentic as it was, so players are not affected by this change."

The specifics of the changes haven't been detailed, and it's especially strange because DayZ doesn't depict recreational drug use. It does, however, contain morphine, which caused similar problems for Bethesda, prompting them to change its name to Med-X in Fallout. There are files for cannabis, too, though it doesn't appear in the live game.

If Fallout is anything to go by, simply changing the name should appease the board. It's all very arbitrary and unhelpful, of course, and if there was a real issue, a name change wouldn't solve anything, but at least it won't be too disruptive for players.  

Earlier in the week, DayZ was refused an age rating by the Australian Classification Board. Despite launching years ago and already having a 15+ rating, Australian distributor Five Star Games had to resubmit the game thanks to the impending launch of the physical edition. Unfortunately, the decision also extends to the digital version. 

While Bohemia Interactive told me that the digital version was not in jeopardy and was still available through storefronts like Steam, the situation has "escalated", the developer confirms.

"We are aware of the Classification Board's intention to pull DayZ from the online sales," says Bohemia Interactive. "The game was just removed from the PlayStation and Xbox stores. The reason behind the rejection to classify the game is the specifics of drug use in the game."

Where things get weird is that DayZ doesn't have drug use aside from things like morphine, specifically used here for pain relief. Here's the extent of the game's 'drugs'. They're not recreational. Unfortunately, cannabis can be found in the game files, and while it's hasn't yet to be implemented and there's no indication it will be, it seems to have riled up the board. 

Though cannabis has been decriminalised or is available for medical reasons in several parts of the world, it's still illegal in Australia. Hunting and killing people for their supplies is also illegal in Australia, though the board seems less concerned about that. 

Bohemia Interactive isn't cutting its losses, however.

"The Australian player base is a big and very important part of our community. At the moment we are looking for the best solution to keep the game on the Australian market and pass the classification according to all regulations. We will do everything in our power to keep the game playable and available for Australian gamers."   

Previously, developers have made minor changes to appease the puritanical board, so it may be that a quick fix is possible and it will be back on sale before too long.

Update: Bohemia Interactive has clarified that the classification, or absence of one, doesn't effect the digital version of DayZ, only the upcoming physical edition. It's still available on Steam in Australia. 

Original story: DayZ has been refused an age rating by the notoriously strict Australian Classification Board. It's not unusual for games to not receive a rating in Australia, often leading to developers making changes to fit the draconian rules, but DayZ has been available in Australia for years. It entered Early Access in 2013 and finally launched last year. 

The classification page (cheers, Reddit) shows the decision was made in June and was applied for by Five Star Games, an Australian distributor. The reason for it being refused classification, which essentially means it's banned, is that it depicts naughty things that might offend. 

It apparently depicts or expresses matters of "sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified."

DayZ was already rated, so it's not clear why it was refused classification when it's exactly the same game. We know DayZ is getting a physical edition this year, which is probably why distributor Five Star Games is involved. What doesn't make sense is why the rules would be different for digital and physical games. 

So far, it's yet to affect Steam, as DayZ continues to be sold in Australia, but this may halt the physical launch. I've reached out to both Bohemia Interactive and Five Star Games for more details.