Starfield R18+ Australian Rating reveals new details on its mature themes

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The highest restriction on a Bethesda title in the country to date.

Bethesda’s upcoming space opera epic Starfield has received an R 18+ rating for violence and interactive drug use in Australia, meaning it will only be available for purchase by players over the age of 18.

In Australia, R 18+ is considered the most restricted category for films and computer games and is reserved for titles that contain “content that has a high impact on viewers” or “content that may be objectionable to sections of the adult community”. . A graph provided by the board has shown that the game’s interactive drug use was the determining factor in the R 18+ rating.

The violence featured in the game is considered highly influential, while the themes and language are considered moderate. The chart also suggests that there may be some level of nudity in Starfield, but no sex. The R 18+ rating is the highest restriction a Bethesda title has received in the country to date, with both Fallout 4 and Skyrim receiving the lesser restriction of MA 15+.

The classification body in Australia is notorious for its permissive approach to how drugs are portrayed in video games. Bethesda titles like Fallout are known to contain Jet, which is technically considered methamphetamine. In the context of the game, the drug can be useful to players and provide benefits such as: B. the ability to slow down time, but over-reliance on the drug can cause the character created by the player to become addicted and dependent on it.

Though conceived as an entirely new universe, it is likely that Starfield will feature items with stat buffs but will have similar addictive properties. In 2008, Fallout 3 was banned outright in Australia for depicting drug use, so it looks like Starfield just barely managed to get past the classification board on this one.