Starfield Gets A "Restricted" Rating In Australia For "Interactive Drug Use"

thegamer.com:

Starfield has been slapped with a "Restricted" rating in Australia, meaning the game has been deemed unsuitable for anyone under the age of 18. There are several reasons listed for the rating including moderate language and strong violence, though the primary reason appears to be "interactive drug use", though it's worth noting that Australia is infamous for being extremely strict with its ratings system

First spotted by GameInfinitus, Starfield was rated on March 15 and makes a note of high impact drug use, something which has been included in plenty of Bethesda titles before. For example, Fallout 4 has plenty of drugs available for use and players can even get addicted, while Skyrim treats Skooma as a narcotic substance. It's worth noting that both of these games are also classified as "Restricted" in Australia, deemed unsuitable for those under the age of 15, though not for their drug use.

Related: Starfield Can't Just Be Another Fallout Or Skyrim

However, Starfield isn't the first example of Bethesda running into trouble with the Australian Classifciation Board. Back when Fallout 3 first launched, the title was refused a rating and banned for release in the country due to it's inclusion of drug use, claiming the realistic depiction of the game's "chems" were too close that to that of real-life drugs.

Obviously, it's difficult to gauge anything from a bunch of ratings, though it's interesting to see that Starfield's inclusion of drugs is a lot worse than some of Bethesda's other modern titles. It's possible the game could include a more detailed delivery method than in previous titles, especially considering the board's concern is over "interactive" drug use, so we could be seeing a Fallout 3-esque situation occur