Halloween: The Game, a new asymmetrical horror title releasing on 8 September, will not be sold in Australia or New Zealand. Developer Illfonic confirmed the news after the Australian Classification Board declined to give the game a rating, reportedly because of a mechanic that lets players who smoke in-game cannabis see the killer Michael Myers' location on the map, which the board considers an unfair incentive to depict drug use.

Australia permits drug depictions in games only if they carry no in-game advantage, and a similar issue previously caused Rimworld to be denied classification in 2022 before its developer successfully resubmitted with changes explaining the drawbacks of in-game drug use. New Zealand operates a separate classification system, and although the two countries share some cross-rating arrangements, these do not apply when a title is refused classification outright, meaning Illfonic would have needed to seek a distinct rating there. Fans speculate the publisher may have decided New Zealand's smaller market did not justify the separate classification fee, and that skipping both markets could also let it avoid maintaining under-used Oceanic servers. Illfonic has said the game will not launch in either country, though it will still release on Xbox, PC and PlayStation elsewhere.