[UPDATE: The Australian Classification Board has decided to give Outlast 2 a rating. Read full details.]

As the world gears up for the highly-anticipated release of Outlast 2, Australian fans will be disappointed to know that the highly-anticipated horror title won't be making its way down under after being refused classification.

Following Outlast 2's submission to the Australian Classification Board, the horror title was refused classification under the Games 1(a) ruling, which is given to games that "depict, express or otherwise deal with 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".

Elaborating on the reasons why Outlast 2 was refused classification, the Australian Classification Board's report stated that the title contained multiple scenes involving the main character, Blake, where sexual violence is implied. While the implied sexual violence scenes described in the report were not "an exhaustive list of the content" that ultimately caused Outlast 2 to be refused classification, the board did state that "without the depiction of implied sexual violence", the horror title would have potentially been eligible for an R18+ rating.

This ruling comes as a bit of a surprise given that the intense Outlast 2 demo was given an R18+ rating last September, but it appears that the final game contains content that was a step too far for the Australian censors. At the time of writing, there has been no comment from the game's developer, Red Barrels, in regards to this ruling.

As for the rest of the world, fans will be able to get their hands on Outlast 2 come April 25 and Red Barrels have certainly pulled out all the stops this time around. From terrifying new characters to the selling of special Outlast 2 adult diapers for scared gamers, the upcoming horror title is certainly shaping up to be a worthy successor to the original 2013 hit.

While it is disappointing that Australian fans will miss out on one of 2017's most anticipated games, there is a chance that a censored version of the title could still make it Down Under as Red Barrels could resubmit a modified version of Outlast 2 to the Australian Classification Board, so stay tuned for any updates and announcements related to this story. 

Outlast 2 is scheduled for launch on April 25 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.

Source: Kotaku Australia