Silent Hill f is not messing around – now it's been banned in Australia

Silent Hill f could not launch in Australia due to a choice by the nation’s Classification Board. The horror reboot has been “Refused Classification”, which suggests its content material is just too excessive for an R18+ ranking and is thus banned. As of proper now, the organisation hasn’t defined what’s behind the ban.

It isn’t exhausting to affix the dots ourselves, although, and Steam’s mature content material description for Silent Fill f is the perfect place to start out. In keeping with that itemizing—which is filed by Konami—”The sport comprises depictions of gender discrimination, little one abuse, bullying, drug-induced hallucinations, torture and graphic violence”.

That covers two areas the Australian Classification Board does not like: drug use and abuse—whether or not implied or in any other case—of minors. Fallout 3 famously fell afoul of the board’s distaste for medicine, earlier than the sport was tweaked to accommodate Australia’s guidelines. As for the latter, Blade Runner: Enhanced Version and Omega Labyrinth Z are current examples of offenders.

Set within the Sixties, Silent Hill f will happen within the distant rural city of Ebisugaoka. Protagonist Shimizu Hinako “should navigate the twisted paths of Ebisugaoka, fixing advanced puzzles and confronting grotesque monsters to outlive”. In keeping with Konami’s mature content material description, the sport displays the “customs and tradition” of Sixties Japan.

This is not the primary time a Silent Hill recreation has been banned in Australia. Silent Hill: Homecoming was refused classification in 2008, primarily due to its excessive graphic violence—earlier than Australia launched an R18+ ranking in 2013, video games that depicted detailed physique dismemberment tended to be frowned upon.

Homecoming was altered and ended up releasing in Australia, which is the best way this stuff are inclined to go together with some uncommon high-profile examples: Devolver refused to edit Hotline Miami 2 for Australia, and it stays formally banned within the nation. The identical goes for the drug use depiction in Sludge Life—that recreation stays unavailable for Australians on Steam.

Whether or not Silent Hill f will probably be tweaked is difficult to say: the areas the Classification Board takes problem with seem to be outstanding themes within the recreation. I’ve reached out to the Classification Board for extra particulars, and can replace when a response is available in.

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