While a classification debate rages in Europe, Australia’s system has barred its first immigrant of the year in the form of Midway’s Blitz: The League.

It may seem as a strange choice for banning, given the usual sex and graphic violence suspects, but the big no-no this time was in-game drug use, along with cheating on urine tests to avoid detection.

Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification(OFLC) refused the mandatory classification thereby effectively banning its sale down under.

The board stated, “In the course of the game, the player may access what are purported to be both legal and illegal performance-enhancing drugs for members of the team, Choosing to use these drugs will have a negative and positive effect on team members, for example, by improving their speed while making them more susceptible to injury”.

OFLC guidelines state that titles which, “depict or express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults” are refused classification.

It isn’t the first time that Midway has fallen foul of Australia’s OFLC either, having previously had their game NARC, the third person shooter, banned. Likewise, Manhunt, GTA III, GTA San Andreas, Postal 1 and 2 are among the various titles that never got the Aussie all clear.

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>> Link - Official Site/ OFLC
>> Read - Euro Zone game restrictions