Sony issues refunds after selling banned game in Australia

Australia is known for having some strict rules for media classification. This has led to several games being banned from sale in the country, including indie hit, Hotline Miami 2. However, it seems Sony didn’t get that memo, as it has been selling Hotline Miami 2 digitally in Australia for over a year.

Hotline Miami 2 first hit the market back in 2015 and was blocked from release in Australia due to a particular cutscene. At the time, the game’s designer, Jonatan Söderström gave fans in the country permission to pirate the game due to the ban.

Despite the ban, Hotline Miami 2 was made available for sale in Australia on PS5 consoles. As this was a digital release, it flew under the radar for over a year. Now, Sony has been forced to reverse all sales of the game to comply with the original ban.

In an email sent to owners of the game in Australia, Sony confirms that it is issuing refunds to all purchasers and due to the game’s ban, Hotline Miami 2 will also be removed from digital libraries in Australia.

Ultimately, this was an error, and Sony doesn’t have much of a choice but to delist the game in Australia and issue refunds. Still, it is an error that we don’t see pop up very often. In my decade of covering video games, this is the only time I have seen a situation like this occur.

KitGuru Says: Hotline Miami is a violent series, but I don't think I'm alone in thinking that the game being banned in Australia is pretty extreme. Considering the game's top-down, pixel-art nature, I'm not surprised that someone at Sony forgot about the game's banishment from Aussie shores.

Become a Patron!