In response to AUTOMATON’s inquiry, the Australian Classification Board has stated that its “Refused Classification” (RC) rating of Silent Hill f has been retracted. At the time of writing, the game is still under review in Australia.
Konami’s upcoming horror game was initially refused classification by Australia’s rating board. This means that it was not deemed appropriate for any age category and essentially banned from being promoted or released in the country.
However, this decision has since been retracted, according to the classification board. This is also apparent from the official homepage, where Silent Hill f’s “Refused Classification” rating has been deleted. The game will go under review again, the results of which will be announced sometime before Silent Hill f’s launch.
The details behind this turn of events are not known, but it is possible that Konami took some measures in response to the initial rating’s announcement. It remains to be seen whether Silent Hill f will be able to release in Australia and whether this will require censorship of its content. AUTOMATON has contacted Konami regarding the re-examination and will be updating this article if we receive a response.
Earlier this month, Silent Hill f received an M rating from the ESRB and became the first Silent Hill game to receive an 18+ rating in Japan.
With a scenario written by Ryukishi07, author of the acclaimed Umineko and Higurashi When They Cry series, Silent Hill f is currently in development for the PC (Steam/Epic Games Store), PS5 and Xbox Series X|S
