Another region has published their rating for Massive Entertainment’s upcoming bounty hunter simulator, Star Wars Outlaws.
As shared on Reddit by user BlackChamber007, Brazil’s ClassInd, or Classificação Indicativa, has given the game a rating of 14/A14. ClassInd’s system straightforwardly gives an age rating. BlackChamber007’s translation also shows that ClassInd noted that the game has ‘violence,’ but doesn’t describe it or mention anything else.
Under the letter of Brazil’s rules on classification, an A14 rating means that adult accompaniment is required for persons under 14 years of age. But in practice, Brazilian movie theatres can kick out kids out of a movie theatre if they find out they are 14 years old or younger.
So Brazil may take their rating system seriously, even if it’s supposed to only be advisory in nature. Their rating is surprisingly more lenient than those given out by Korea and Australia over the last week. Australia’s rating is for children 15 years old and younger, and Korea gave out a harsher rating, only for players 19 years old and above.
As we had noted before, these ratings don’t just reflect the small differences in each country’s rating systems, but broader differences in cultural taboos. Korea’s rating, in particular, reflects their harsher taboo against gambling, which seems to be a key part of Kay Ves’ world, as it always was in Star Wars.
Australia’s rating noted not only the science fiction violence, but the online interactivity. So Australia’s rating was paying closer attention to online interactions in particular. As we had realized more recently, Australia has a cultural taboo of sorts towards the internet, because of a livestreaming controversy from 2019. That sort of thing may not have anything to do with a video game like Star Wars Outlaws, but the taboo in itself would affect these decisions.
In any case, Ubisoft recently revealed they would be once again holding a Ubisoft Forward event, it what promises to be the first post E3 games media event in LA, in what will still be remembered as E3 month in July. Ubisoft could very well announce Star Wars Outlaws’ release date at this event, unless, and call my crazy here, they release it before then.
There may be some more things needed to do after review certification for a game to be published, but Massive and Ubisoft definitely have plenty of time between them to ship this title out the door. After the expected failure of Skull & Bones, and the unfairly poor performance of The Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Ubisoft could use a hit in 2024. This one must surely be a can’t miss prospect.
Star Wars Outlaws is releasing in 2024 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows, exclusively on Ubisoft Connect.