Where Has Halloween Been Banned?
According to Illfonic, in a tweet responding to the question of Halloween: The Game’s availability for pre-order in Australia, the game will be unavailable in any form in Australia and New Zealand due to being banned by the Austrailian Classifications Board.
Despite every effort on our part, the Australian Classifications Board has denied “Halloween: The Game” a rating. The denial was not based on the presence of the iconic slasher, Michael Myers, or the outstanding kills that can be performed in the game, but rather the presence of a controlled substance. Unfortunately, to our disappointment (and certainly yours) this means that we cannot sell the physical or digital product in both Australia and New Zealand.
This news drops with Halloween: TVG launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026.
Why Would The ACB Ban Halloween?
Australia’s Classification Board has a few categories they use to determine what a game should be rated or outright banned; most are pretty straightforward, others seem to be up for debate:
- Detailed instruction or promotion in matters of crime or violence.
- Depiction of rape.
- The promotion or provision of instruction in paedophile activity.
- Descriptions or depictions of child sexual abuse or any other exploitative or offensive descriptions or depictions involving a person who is, or appears to be, a child under 18 years.
- Gratuitous, exploitative or offensive depictions of:
- (i) violence with a very high degree of impact or which are excessively frequent, prolonged or detailed;
- (ii) cruelty or real violence which are very detailed or which have an extremely high impact;
- (iii) sexual violence
- Depictions of practices such as bestiality
- Gratuitous, exploitative or offensive depictions of:
- (i) activity accompanied by fetishes or practices that are offensive or abhorrent;
- (ii) incest fantasies or other fantasies that are offensive or abhorrent
In the case of Halloween: The Game, as stated in the message, it isn’t the violence of the kills, the blood, or the gore. It’s the “presence of a controlled substance” that is the cause of the ban.
Now, if you’re like me, you look at the categories they list, and you don’t see “drugs” listed specifically. I can only assume the presence of marijuana falls under the “promotion of crime” banner.
Other Games That Have Been Banned In Australia
Many games have been banned, at least initially; some have since been reclassified for various reasons, including the game developer offering versions with the offending content altered or edited out altogether.
A few examples:
- Wasteland 3 – Originally banned because of drug use related to incentives and rewards. A censored version was later rated R18+.
- South Park: The Stick of Truth – Banned because of scenes of sexual violence involving minors. Those censored scenes involved the underage main character getting anally probed by aliens, giving an abortion. and receiving one. A version was released replacing those scenes with a card of a koala crying humorously explaining what has been cut.
- Disco Elysium: The Final Cut – Originally banned because of drug use related to incentives and rewards. Later given an R18+ rating in May 2021 after the Classification Board agreed that player performance showed negative impacts from depictions of drug use.
- We Happy Few – Originally banned because of drug use related to incentives and rewards.[123] The game was re-rated R18+ after a review was conducted with input from Gearbox Software, the game’s publisher.
