Today, an unusual incident occurred in the Australian PlayStation Store, the official digital marketplace for PS4 and PS5 games: Hotline Miami 2 has been removed from sale after nearly a year of availability. The reason? It has just come to light that the game was not permitted for sale in Australia.
Strict Age Classification in Australia
Australia is known for its stringent age classification regulations, which often result in many video games being denied distribution due to content deemed excessively violent, even for adults. This was the case for Hotline Miami 2, which was originally banned from release in Australia during its initial launch in 2015. As a result, the creators encouraged Australian players to pirate the game since it could not be purchased legally.
PS5 Version Slip-Up
When the Hotline Miami Collection was re-released in 2019, Hotline Miami 2 was again excluded from the Australian market. However, upon the release of the PS5 version on October 23, 2023, the game inadvertently became available on the Australian PS Store. Recently, someone identified this oversight, prompting the digital storefront to remove the game.
Refunds for Purchasers
What happens to those who purchased the game during this year? PlayStation has notified buyers that they will be refunded for their purchase of Hotline Miami 2. Additionally, those who downloaded it through PS Plus, where it was available for much of the past year, have been informed that they will no longer have access to the game.
In response, Devolver Digital, the publisher behind the game developed by Dennaton Games, shared a statement with Eurogamer, featuring an image of Hotline Miami 2 alongside a simple phrase: “Good times don’t last long.”