Fable Anniversary Gets R18+ Adults Only Rating in Australia

Considering some of the violence, vulgarities, and sexually explicit material we’ve seen in video games over the past decade, I find it more than a little surprising that Australia has chosen to hand out an R18+ “Adults Only” rating to Lionhead’s upcoming Fable Anniversary. As the editors over at Player Attack have learned, the rating stems from the inclusion of a brothel that was in the PC version but not in the original Xbox version:

The Australian Classification Board has sent over its report, and the adults-only rating for Fable Anniversary apparently has nothing to do with children at all (which is reassuring, right?). The game has been rated R18+ for “Sexual activity related to incentives or rewards” – and it’s all to do with the Darkwood Bordello.

It was left out of the original Fable, but this medieval-style brothel, complete with in-game prostitutes, is a location that should be familiar to gamers who played the PC re-release of Fable: The Lost Chapters.

A spokesperson from the Classification Board has confirmed that the game contains “sex related to incentives and rewards”, but at the same time, no realistic or explicit depictions of sexual activity, simulated or actual.

Instead, it all hinges on some implicit scenes contained within the bordello’s walls.

Option 1: Playing as a man, you can visit Darkwood and pay for sex with a selection of prostitutes – there is an in-game reward once you’ve paired up with a certain number of them.

Option 2: Choose a female costume from your inventory, accept a job as a “working girl” and “participate in the intimate act of love” with a male NPC named Grope. As a reward, you’ll get 1,000 gold.