Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number was at the centre of a few controversies when it released nearly a decade ago. Yet somehow all these years later, the game is still causing problems, at least for Australians.
Sony has sent out Emails to people (thanks to ResetEra’s Bishop 89 for grabbing a screenshot) telling them that the game “has not received a proper rating from the Australian Classification board” and they have therefore “taken steps to remove the product from customers who have obtained the game through PlayStation Plus.”
Sure enough, a quick search of the Aussie PlayStation store reveals nothing. It has been wiped from existence. Anybody checking the game in their game library reports finding a lock symbol.
Hotline Miami 2 was notably not available for Australia when it launched because the Australian certification board would not grant it a rating, essentially banning the game.
However, in 2019 the game appeared as part of a Switch collection alongside the original Hotline Miami. That version was quickly pulled down, though.
But fans were hopeful everything had finally be sorted out when Hotline 2 popped up in Australia 12 months ago. Via PS Plus, hopeful customers could get it separately or as part of the Hotline Miami Collection.
It’s currently unclear how or why it has taken an entire year for this issue to come to light and for the game to be removed. Somehow it seems to have slipped through PlayStation’s cracks, though the publisher must also be held accountable as they must have been aware it wasn’t properly rated and yet was still available. It’s possible they might face some legal repercussions. Presumably, they will have to cough up the cash to refund everyone who bought the game.
