Update: MDA has responded to GameSync’s enquiry about L4D2’s rating. Read about it here.
Only those aged 18 and above will be allowed to purchase Left 4 Dead 2 in Singapore, in accordance with a ruling from the Media Authority Development of Singapore that rates Valve’s upcoming horror first-person shooter as “Mature 18”.
The rating, apparently for the Xbox 360 version, was granted due to the “strong violence and gore”, according to MDA’s rating classification database (search for “Left 4 Dead”). It is quite likely that the PC version will follow suit as well.
“I think it is pure bullshit,” Damien “eCon” Seetoh, 16, said, questioning whether L4D2 was really that much more violent than the first game, which merely got an “Age Advisory” rating from MDA.
Regardless of MDA’s rating, eCon still intends to get L4D2 when it is released. He told GameSync: “I don’t care. M18 or not, I will still order and buy the game through Steam.”
On a brighter note, at least L4D2 can still be sold here in Singapore. Our poor friends from Australia face a retail ban on the game as the country as no “mature” rating for video games.
GameSync has contacted MDA for their comment on their rationale behind L4D2 being granted the M18 rating and will update this post when more information becomes available.
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