Hunter x Hunter Nen x Impact is a fighting game by Eighting due out next year, but Australia has effectively banned it by refusing classification.
As reported by Event Hubs, the Australian Classification Board hit it with a Refused Classification. No reason was given for the refusal, but we have reached out to the Board for further clarification.
Hunter x Hunter Nen x Impact seems like an odd game to be refused classification. Trailers for the game don't appear to show anything overly graphic like blood or dismemberment, although the anime does contain a drug known as D², so if that's in the game it might explain why it hasn't been classified.
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Australia is, perhaps surprisingly to many given the chill vibe it projects internationally, a very strict country when it comes to video game classifications. It banned Fallout 3 due to its inclusion of what was considered realistic drug use – Med-X was originally called morphine. In fact, on our list of 19 banned games, three were banned in Australia.
It was originally due to launch in 2024, but the release date has been pushed back to allow the developers to implement rollback netcode. This is a technology that effectively emulates online players as local opponents by predicting what they'll do, which helps to reduce latency during online matches. If the prediction is correct, it just happens, but if it's wrong the game will shift to the right inputs. Done well, this should be imperceptible to players. Computers are very fast.
Eighting has quite a pedigree amongst fighting games, having developed Naruto: Clash of Ninja, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and DNF Duel. Hopefully the issue in Australia can be sorted out so everyone can enjoy the game when it comes out.
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