Aliens vs. Predator banned in Australia

The Australian Classification Board has refused classification to SEGA and Rebellion's Aliens vs. Predator, barring it from sale in Australia in its current version.

The sci-fi FPS was struck off for "first-person perspective, close-up depictions of human characters being subjected to various types of violence, including explicit decapitation and dismemberment as well as locational damage such as stabbing through the chest, mouth, throat, or eyes," according to the ruling, as seen by GameSpot.

SEGA Australia told GameSpot in a statement: "We will continue to investigate all options available to us, including the possibility of appeal."

Another option would be to produce a censored version of the game, the route taken by EA and Valve recently with Left 4 Dead 2. SEGA may decide against this, since as GameInformer reported last month, the company's European arm has opted not to release AVP in Germany rather than subject it to "significant cuts that would harm the gameplay experience" to get it past the German censor.

The ACB's decision on Aliens Vs. Predator comes in the same week that it banned MMO CrimeCraft for its supposedly positive depiction of drug use.

Aliens vs. Predator is due for release in countries other than Germany and Australia in February, on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.