[UPDATE: now MA15+] Silent Hill f has been banned in Australia, and no one knows why (www.eurogamer.net)

submitted 1 week ago by MHLoppy@fedia.io to c/australia@aussie.zone

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UPDATE 24/3/25: In a statement to Eurogamer, the Australian Classification Board has suggested Silent Hill f's Refused Classification (RC) rating - which was recently spotted on its database - was published in error, noting a decision about its classification is yet to be made.

"Silent Hill f is not currently classified as 'Refused Classification' in Australia," a spokesperson for the Australian Classification Board told Eurogamer. "The 14 March 2025 entry on the National Classification Database has been removed. A classification decision will be published to the National Classification Database ahead of the game’s release."

Silent Hill f - the first game in the series to be set in Japan - doesn't currently have a released date, but Konami recently shared more about the project in a dedicated showcase.

It's since been given an MA15+ rating (thanks @Kelly !)

Original text:

Silent Hill f has been refused classification in Australia.

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, and the Arts' Classification Board (IARC) has not detailed why, exactly, the horror has been denied release, but simply invites people to contact the organisation if they want more information (so I have - I'll update as/when I hear back).

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[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 22 points 1 week ago

FFS why did we introduce the over-18 category a decade ago if they're still gonna pull this shit?

[-] Nath@aussie.zone 5 points 1 week ago

Step one: Submit a bunch of bullshit answers to the classifications request form.
Step two: Trigger some algorithm that initially refuses classification.
Step three: Press release saying your game was banned in Australia.
Step four: Free Press!!
Step five: Get your classification when a human gets around to your title and have far higher interest in your game because of the press.

This whole episode fails the sniff test. I think Konami did this on purpose to intentionally rustle your jimmies.

[-] Embargo@lemm.ee 20 points 1 week ago

I personally would love to know why I'll need to illegally source this game. It looks sick and Silent Hill is pure magic.

[-] biscuitswalrus@aussie.zone 10 points 1 week ago

Too scary, I couldn't check it for content. I didn't want to get nightmares.

[-] Kelly@programming.dev 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

OFLC have pulled the page listing it as RC.

https://automaton-media.com/en/news/silent-hill-f-ban-in-australia-retracted-age-rating-up-for-review-again/

The pulled page indicates it was an IARC classification i.e. it was automatically classified based an Konami's answers to a generic survey distributed to classification boards globally. If Konami contest the automatic classification then it will be looked at by actual humans who may determine that offensive content is contextualized to a degree that it can be released (or failing that give a list of content that needs to be modified).

[-] Kelly@programming.dev 3 points 4 days ago

And it's been given: MA15+ Strong Horror Violence

[-] MHLoppy@fedia.io 2 points 4 days ago

Thanks for the updates!

[-] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 3 points 1 week ago

Does anyone know of any game streamers who only stream the game they are playing and nothing else? No speaking or commentary, no video of themselves or their avatar, no chatbox etc? Just the game in full screen. Ta.

[-] AThing4String@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

Not a streamer, but MKIceandFire does long-form YouTube that fits the rest of the criteria. He also publishes new videos at what can only be described as a frightening pace, especially for hotly anticipated games right after release, in case your preference for streamers was due to anticipated volume per session.