Sony removes banned game from players' PS5s after accidentally selling it for a year

Hotline Miami 2 has been ripped from players' libraries after it was banned almost a decade ago

Devolver Digital

Game ratings are a bit of a hot topic in some parts of the world, and game bans even more so. It’s a rare occurrence for a game to be banned in the US, but it somewhat regularly happens in countries like Germany and Australia, where ratings are much more strict. In a strange clash of what seems to be a technical oversight and ratings laws in Australia, Sony has had to pull a game from the consoles of players after accidentally selling it for a year. 

Earlier today, dozens of Australians received an email from Sony advising them that Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number – one of the best action games of all time – had been removed from their accounts. This includes players who bought the game while it was available, and players who redeemed it through PlayStation Plus. 

“We have become aware that the product Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number has not received a proper rating from the Australian Classification Board,” the email reads, “And have therefore taken steps to remove the product from customers who have obtained the game through PlayStation Plus. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.” 

Players who had the game installed have been met with a lock symbol on the game’s icon, while players who didn’t have it downloaded no longer see the products in their libraries. Some players who purchased the game have received refunds for the game, and had PS Stars points removed from their total following its removal. 

So what happened, exactly? Well, Hotline Miami 2 was issued a “Refused Classification” rating in Australia when it was first released in 2015, with the Australian Classification Board (ACB) banning the game for “sexual violence,” with a scene at the beginning of the game triggering the ban. Sexual violence and interactive drug use that has in-game benefits are two of the main reasons that games get banned in Australia, and the ACB is strict about both of these issues. 

In October 2023, a native version of the game was released on the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S as part of the Hotline Miami Collection, which featured both games as one purchase. When this was released on PS5, it was erroneously made available to Australians, and remained so for quite some time. It seems the ACB has finally clued in to this – or maybe Sony is just being proactive – and action has been taken to correct it. 

Curiously, a similar issue happened when the collection was released on the Nintendo Switch in 2019. For a few hours following release, players in Australia were able to purchase the game, but it was corrected fairly quickly. Players who managed to scoop it up in those few short hours (myself included) have been able to keep, download, and play the game in the years since. 

The situation comes after Australia introduced new classification rules that could see games like Pokémon and Zelda released with an R18+ rating. The new rules require games with loot boxes to be given an automatic M (recommended for 15 and above) rating, and games that feature “simulated gambling” like slots, even if they don’t interact with real money, given an automatic R18+ rating.