As spotted on
reddit by user silent-mario, The Short Message is included in the
annual report from the Australian Classification Board, which it has published on its website. The game is detailed under the section which lists "significant computer games classified
MA 15+" from 2022 to 2023, which means The Short Message is "legally restricted to people over the age of 15".
In the annual report, the ACB said the game contains "strong suicide themes, horror violence and coarse language". The game takes place in modern-day Germany, where protagonist Anita explores an apartment building to discover what happened to her friend.
Cutscenes described in the report include depictions of acts of self-harm from a first-person perspective, and a character taking her own life by jumping off a rooftop - seen in both first-person and third-person.
"Throughout the game, cutscenes depicting self-harm and suicide are followed by black screens which feature white text encouraging players to seek treatment and help is they are at risk of self-harm and suicide and to offer support if they see people around them struggling," the ACB noted in its report. The depictions of these issues "occur in the broader context of discourse" around mental health, it said, which justified its decision to rate The Short Message as MA 15+ and not any higher.
www.eurogamer.net
