Saints Row 4 in Australia barred from international co-op (update)

The Australian version of Saints Row 4 is incompatible for co-operative play with other regions due to the game's censorship in the country, according to the official Saints Row Facebook page.

The censored version of Volition's upcoming open-world game received an MA15+ rating in Australia last week after the original game was refused classification in June, specifically because of alien narcotics and a weapon called an Alien Anal Probe. The "rectifier weapon" will remain in the game as part of a DLC package. Because using "illicit or proscribed drug use" as incentives in a game is prohibited by the Board's guidelines, the censored Australian version of Saints Row 4 omits a mission where players obtain and smoke drugs referred to as "alien narcotics."

"While we are very proud of all our different missions, we do feel that Saints Row 4 on the whole remains largely the same without this single optional mission, and we also feel that you deserve to know what you are getting in Australia," the Facebook statement reads. "Due to the changes we were forced to make, this version is different than the version rated by rating boards like the ESRB, USK, and PEGI, which is why it will be incompatible with those versions in co-op."

We have reached out to the game's Australian representative for comment.

Update: Deep Silver confirmed with Polygon that the Australian release of Saints Row 4 is incompatible for co-operative play with other regions.