DayZ has been refused classification by the Australian ratings board

DayZ has been refused classification in Australia despite having been previously approved for sale in the region. 

The notoriously strict Australian Classification Board (ACB) has refused to give the survival game, which officially launched in December 2018 after five years in early access, an age rating because it depicts a variety of adult themes that might offend some players.

"[The game has been refused classification because it] deals 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," reads the official ACB explanation. 

It's not uncommon for games to be refused classification in Australia, with familiar names like Saints Row IV and We Happy Few having also been denied a rating in recent times. What's particularly interesting about this case, however, is that DayZ had already been approved multiple times following submissions by developer Bohemia Interactive.

The fact the latest submission comes from retail distributor Five Star Games rather than Bohemia suggests the ACB has taken issue with the planned physical edition of DayZ. That said, it's unclear how or why the two versions would offer different depictions of those offensive adult themes mentioned above. 

As if that wasn't confusing enough, the digital version of DayZ remains on sale in Australia at the time of writing, which again implies the ACB has clocked an issue unique to the upcoming physical release. We've reached out to Five Star Games to see if they can shed more light on the matter, and will update the story when we hear back.