Hotline Miami 2 dev tells Australian fans to pirate the game

The co-creator of Hotline Miami 2 has told Australian fans to bypass their country’s banning of the game by pirating it.

If it ends up not being released in Australia, just pirate it after release,” Jonatan Sderstrmm told a fan in an email subsequently published on Reddit. No need to send us any money, just enjoy the game."

When asked about the comment’s authenticity, a rep for publisher Devolver Digital told Ars Technica: "That was him. He’s said similar things in the past and yes, I can confirm he wants people to enjoy the game.”

The Australian Classification Board yesterday refused to classify Hotline Miami 2, effectively banning the game from the country. It cited concerns about a sexually violent cutscene as the cause, although Devolver later criticised the body for what it says are the exaggerations contained in its report.

We are concerned and disappointed that a board of professionals tasked with evaluating and judging games fairly and honestly would stretch the facts to such a degree and issue a report that describes specific thrusting actions that are not simply present in the sequence in question and incorrectly portrays what was presented to them for review,” it said.

"Though we have no plans to officially challenge the ruling, we stand by our developers, their creative vision for the storyline, its characters and the game and look forward to delivering Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number to fans very soon."