Valve appeals Australia's banning of Left 4 Dead 2

Valve is to appeal the decision made by Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification to deny Left 4 Dead 2 a rating in the country on the grounds it contains excessive violence.

According to a statement made by Valve: "The title has been rated in the majority of the world and awaiting final ratings in the UK and New Zealand, where final ratings are expected in the coming days. Meanwhile, the ruling in Australia from the OFLC has been appealed by Valve."

An appeal by the developer was submitted on September 23, it added.

The game has currently been awarded an 18+ or Mature rating by every board it has been presented to, including ESRB, USK (Germany), CERO (Japan) and KGRB (Korea).

Due to Australia's lack of such an 18+ certificate for videogames however, the game has been effectively banned by its rating board. The OFLC has stated the game contains "unrelenting violence" and is therefore unsuitable to be awarded a 15+ rating - the highest a game can be given.

Earlier in the week an EA spokesperson said the publisher believes adults have the right to make their own choices when it comes to the content they consume. "It's funny that a place like Australia, which has come up with some pretty violent material in the past with something like Mad Max, can effectively ban videogames for the same reason," they added.