Update: The Classification Board has approved and given the toned down version mentioned below an MA15+ classification. Now we have to wait until the 22nd to see what comes of the appeal.

Original story: After Left 4 Dead 2 was denied classification in Australia due to it containing “living humans with a rabies-like virus” and “realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence,” a bummed out Valve appealed the decision, the results of which we’ll learn on October 22, Gabe Newell revealed at a press conference during his Aussie visit.

In case the Australian Classification Board doesn’t rethink their decision however, Valve has submitted an edited version of the game via the standard classification process as a ‘Plan B.’ A version which Newell says is “fully compliant with the guidelines” of an MA15+ rating but one they hope they won’t have to release. “Our goal is not to ship this second version,” he said, but declined to specify which elements were edited.

Should there be a scenario where the edited version does get released and the Classification Board delivers a favorable decision on the original submission too late, then the Australian version will get a post-release update which turns up the carnage. Newell said this update would be free on the PC but couldn’t comment on how things would go down with the 360 version, likely because it hasn’t been discussed with the platform holder yet.