Hundreds of developers spanning the US and Europe have endorsed an open letter asking the games community to curb hate-speech and online abuse across social media sites like Twitter and Reddit.

The letter, written by the independent games designer Andreas Zecher, has been signed by hundreds of developers, AAA studios, and indies, including Rockstar North, Naughty Dog, Bungie, 343 Industries, Blizzard Entertainment, and Epic Games.

Support for Zecher's letter comes in the wake of a spate of personal attacks on games industry figures across social media. For instance, last week the games essayist Anita Sarkeesian was forced to vacate her home after receiving increasingly severe anonymous threats on Twitter.

Those who have backed the letter have done so independently, and not necessarily as representatives for the companies they work for.

“We believe that everyone, no matter what gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion has the right to play games, criticize games and make games without getting harassed or threatened,” reads Zecher's letter.

“It is the diversity of our community that allows games to flourish. If you see threats of violence or harm in comments on Steam, YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook or Reddit, please take a minute to report them on the respective sites.

“If you see hateful, harassing speech, take a public stand against it and make the gaming community a more enjoyable space to be in.”

The father of Street Fighter Yoshinori Ono has revealed that developer Dimps is working on a new project with Capcom.

Earlier today, Ono tweeted that Capcom were recruiting new staff to work with Dimps studio for a "new FG." Dimps co-developed Street Fighter IV with Capcom, and was responsible for programming and balancing the game. The studio is no stranger to working on fighting games, having developed Street Fighter X Tekken and the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai series, among others.

Street Fighter V was teased by Ono during E3 this year, who tweeted that the game was still in its "early planning stages" and that more details would be shared "at a later date." The game has not yet been officially announced, although Capcom producer Tomoaki Ayano has said that the game might not be released until 2018.

UPDATE: A Valve representative has issued the following statement to Kotaku Australia:

“We are delighted that the full version of Left 4 Dead 2 will be available to fans age 18+ in Australia,” Doug Lombardi said. “We are making plans to deliver that version to those who have already purchased the game. We will announce more details on that soon.”

The original story follows below.

The PC version of Valve's co-operative first-person shooter Left 4 Dead 2 has been reclassified in Australia, earning an R18+ rating, the highest possible classification rating for a video game in Australia.

As reported by the Kotaku Australia, the Australian Classification Board has stamped the game with an R18+ rating, which includes warnings for high impact violence, strong impact themes, and mild impact language. According to the site, Valve itself resubmitted the game for classification.

Left 4 Dead 2 was initially refused classification in Australia when it was first submitted in 2009, which made it illegal to sell, rent, or promote the title in the country. Valve appealed the decision before resubmitting both the uncensored and modified versions of the game for classification. The Australian-specific version of the game eventually earned an MA15+ rating, the highest possible classification rating for a video game available at the time. This version of the game removed decapitation, limb dismemberment, and fallen bodies faded away, which removed the option for players to cause post-mortem damage.

The refusal largely focused on the Board's interpretation of violence in Left 4 Dead 2, finding that "the game contains realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence which is inflicted upon 'the Infected' who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently."

The ruling went on to say, "However, it is the use of the 'melee' weapons such as the crowbar, axe, chainsaw and Samurai sword which inflict the most damage. These close in attacks cause copious amounts of blood spray and splatter, decapitations and limb dismemberment as well as locational damage where contact is made to the enemy which may reveal skeletal bits and gore."

Now that the game has been reclassified with an R18+ rating, it can be expected that these features will be implemented back into the Australian version of the game.