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Watch Dogs now rated R18+ in Australia

Ubisoft's hacking game gets reclassified from MA15+ thanks to "references to sexual violence and sex scenes".

Nic Healey Senior Editor / Australia
Nic Healey is a Senior Editor with CNET, based in the Australia office. His passions include bourbon, video games and boring strangers with photos of his cat.
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Nic Healey

It looks like Watch Dogs got more than just an updated release date and a new trailer in the past week.

[Insert joke about 'impact' and 'violence' here] (Credit: Ubisoft)

It turns out that the title has also received a revised rating from the Classification Board, moving from an MA15+ (strong themes and violence, gaming experience may change online) to an R18+ (references to sexual violence and sex scenes). The initial rating was given on 13 September 2013, while the new one is dated 11 March this year.

Intriguingly, the Classification site still lists both ratings.

According to our sister site Gamespot the US Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) gave Watch Dogs an M-for-Mature rating, but the title has actually disappeared from the ESRB site altogether.

(Credit: Gamespot)

The changes to the Australian rating include moving Drug Use from Mild Impact to Strong Impact and Violence from Strong Impact to High Impact.

The Classification Board usually only reclassifies a game on the back of complaints regarding the rating. This change could signify that Ubisoft altered a great deal of the gameplay and story during the delay period, requiring a reclassification. We've asked Ubisoft Australia for an official comment on the classification changes and we'll update if more information comes to hand.

Watch Dogs is available from 27 May on PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PS4 and Xbox One. It also looks amazing.