Five years after its release, Australian gamers will now be able to get their hands on the uncensored version of the popular zombie-themed shooter game "Left 4 Dead 2," IGN reported.
Shortly after the game's release in 2009, the Australian Classification Board banned "Left 4 Dead 2" from entering the country. Apparently, the organization refused to give the game a classification rating due to its graphic violence, according to Game Spot.
"The game contains realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence which is inflicted upon the infected who are living humans infected with rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently," the board said in a statement.
Valve, the developer behind the "Left 4 Dead" series, appealed to the agency and submitted a heavily censored version of the game.
The edited version of the game, which meets the board's MA 15+ rating, was then given approval to be released to the public.
"The Board notes that the game no longer contains depictions of decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies lying about the environment," the organization stated.
Following the release of the censored version of "Left 4 Dead 2," Valve appealed to the board once again to have the original version classified. Unfortunately, the board refused due to its prolonged, high level of violence.
Then, five years later, a report released by the agency dated Aug. 29 of this year indicated that the original, uncensored version of the game has been given an R18+ classifications. This means Australians can now enjoy playing the original version of the game.
Upon hearing about the news, Doug Lombardi, Valve's vice president of marketing, announced that the company is working on ways to bring the unedited version of "Left 4 Dead 2" to the Australian gamers who purchased its censored counterpart, Kotaku reported.
"We are delighted that the full version of 'Left 4 Dead 2' will be available to fans age 18+ in Australia," he said. "We are making plans to deliver that version to those who have already purchased the game. We will announce more details on that soon."
