Australia's Rating Board Removed "Refused Classification" Rating For Silent Hill f

A day ago, Australia said No to the next main installment in the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill f, as Australia's Classification Board refused to classify the game without giving a clear reason. However, it seems ACB has changed its mind, as the rating has now been removed. So chance is that the review is still underway. 

The reason for the change is still unclear, but the board has been largely criticized for being overly strict. Surprisingly, this has made players even more eager to play the game, despite the fact that if the "refused classification" is true, it cannot be sold anywhere in the country. 

More than two years after it was announced during the first Silent Hill Transmission in October 2022, the game, developed by Neobards Entertainment and published by Konami, finally received the official reveal trailer and Steam page earlier this month. The trailer gives us a peek at the story of protagonist Hinako Shimizu, who confronts the eerie transformations of her hometown of Ebisugaoka in 1960s Japan after being enveloped by a mysterious fog. 

Its Steam Page, besides giving us more insights on the game, contains a warning about mature content, which reads, "This game contains depictions of gender discrimination, child abuse, bullying, drug-induced hallucinations, torture, and graphic violence."

Compared with the warning message on Steam, the description from the ESRB rating about the game (which is the first in the franchise to get an 18+ ESRB rating in Japan) is absolutely more specific and intense. It clearly says some cutscenes show gore and tons of violence, including "a character burned alive inside a cage; a woman branded by a hot iron; entrails and sinew displayed on serving platters in fantastical celebration/ceremony; a character sawing off her own arm; a character slicing off portions of a character's face during a ritual."

In January, the game got rated in South Korea by the GRAC (Game Rating and Administration Committee) and was described as "not available for minors."

Silent Hill f will be released on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, but the release window is still unknown. With all these ratings starting to surface, the release may not be far away.

Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.