Update: The Australian Classification Board has issued a statement regarding the banning of "The Medium" in Australia. The reason for the ban at the content level has not been disclosed, but it has been confirmed that Bloober Team's IARC application violates unspecified rules. The Australian Classification Board itself did not receive an application for this game.

This is the full statement:

"On July 6, 2020, the IARC (International Age Rating Coalition) tool classified "Medium" as RC (classification refused). The tool made the classification refusal decision based on input (questionnaire responses) submitted by the developer and in accordance with Australian classification criteria. As of November 4, 2020, the Classification Board had not received any applications for the game titled "The Medium". If the developer decides to change the game, a tool can be used to classify the changed version of the game and a new classification will be generated.

In other words, the only recourse the Bloober Team has is to address the problematic material (i.e., patch it for the Australian audience) before submitting it for reclassification.

Original Story

The Medium is the next psycho-horror game from the Bloober Team, which also produced Layers of Fear, Observer, and the recent Blair Witch adaptation. However, it may not be released in Australia; according to a ruling posted on the Classification Board's website (first spotted by Kotaku), the classification was denied.

A "classification refusal" means that the game has been effectively banned in Australia for breaking some (as yet unspecified) rule. Most recently, it was revealed that "Wasteland 3" was almost banned in Australia because it broke a clause relating to indecent depictions of drug use.

We do not know why "Medium" was denied classification. We have inquired with the Board as to the reason, but since the film was rated by IARC (International Age Rating Coalition) rather than by the Board itself, the issue could be a simple data entry error; IARC's submission "reflected its own local standards for age appropriateness of the various content presented in the app, programmed with a proprietary algorithm that assigns a rating to each participating rating authority" through a questionnaire.

It is also not uncommon for denied classification rulings to turn around. Some studios modify their game to conform to the law, whether global or regional. In any case, as of this writing, you can still pre-order "The Medium" on Steam. The game is scheduled to be released on December 10.

We have contacted the Classification Board about the reasons for this decision and will update this article as soon as we receive a response.