The Australian Classifications Board has often banned games, so it’s no surprise that they’ve done it again with the new Silent Hill…

Silent Hill f may not be released in Australia thanks to the decision of the country’s Classifications Board. The horror genre game has been denied a rating, meaning it is too extreme in content to be rated R18+, so it has simply been banned, and the organization has yet to explain the reasoning behind the ban. Silent Hill F has been described by Steam as depicting gender discrimination, child abuse, molestation, drug-induced hallucinations, torture and graphic violence, so it has simply become too violent for them to accept the project from Konami and Neobards Entertainment.

The game’s Steam description covers two areas that the Australian Classification Board does not like: drug use and abuse (implied or otherwise) of minors. Fallout 3 has been disliked by the board for over a decade and a half precisely because of drugs, and Bethesda Game Studios eventually changed the game because of it. And Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition and Omega Labyrinth Z were the two games that lost out to the Commission for abuse and harassment of minors.

This is not the first time a Silent Hill game has been banned in Australia. In 2008, Silent Hill: Homecoming was rejected for classification, mainly due to extreme graphic violence. This was before Australia introduced the R18+ rating in 2013. Games that depict detailed body mutilation are generally not looked upon favorably. Silent Hill: Homecoming was modified to allow it to be released. Devolver Digital refused to change Hotline Miami 2 in Australia, so it remains banned there. The same goes for Sludge Life because of its depiction of drug use. There are other examples, of course, as this committee has been very strict in the past and will continue to be so.

Whether they will make changes to Silent Hill f is hard to say.

Source: PCGamer