Hunter x Hunter Nen x Influence was refused to grant an age rating in Australia by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Art Classification Commission on November 18, banning the release of the upcoming fighting game in the country in all but name. Polygon has learned that the case ended with “alleged sexual violence” against minors.
At the time of announcement Australia Website of the Classification Commission he noticed it Nen x Influence has been considered Status “Classification denied.”meaning that something in the game is “beyond generally accepted community standards” and exceeds even what could be considered among the country’s most extreme R18+ and X18+ ratings.
A spokesman for the Australian Classification Board responded to Polygon’s comment on December 5, clarifying its classification Hunter x Hunter Nen x Strikeclaiming that the game “contains a scene of visual depiction of alleged sexual violence in which an adult male exposes himself to persons under the age of 18.”
Australia has long been known for banning games containing content it considers extreme. The Australian Parliament approved the creation of the R18+ category in 2012 and it has been implemented Grand Theft Auto 5 a year later for “Intensive Drug Use” and robust themes such as language, sex, violence and nudity.
While it’s straightforward to see why the ratings board might find issues with adult releases, e.g The Way of the Saint 4 AND Miami Hotline 2it is not clear why Nen x Influence crossed the censorship threshold. (The spokesperson did not provide specific details or scenes that prompted this decision.) However, the Australian Classification Board’s description brings to mind a moment from the manga and anime’s Greed Island arc in which Hisoka, a clown of ill repute, is confronted by children Gone heroes. and Killua while swimming in the lake. Hisoka has no qualms about turning them around and flashing her full frontal nudity. Gon and Killua are clearly uncomfortable after this encounter, and another character, Goreinu, calls Hisoka a pervert, but they basically continue the conversation from there as if nothing strange had happened.
“The board noted in its report that implied sexual violence is implicitly condoned where appropriate due to the game’s narrative failing to address the issue and that it is not justified by context,” the board’s official statement added. “Implied sexual violence that is visual, interactive, unjustified by context, or associated with incentives or rewards is not permitted.”
Hunter x Hunter Nen x Strike it was originally planned to release in 2024 on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC, but this happened officially pushed away from September to 2025 to provide developers with the additional time needed to implement a more stalwart online gaming infrastructure, known as netcode rollback.
Update (December 5): After publishing the original story, Polygon received a statement from the Australian Classification Board explaining its decision Hunter x Hunter Nen x Influence. We’ve updated the story to include novel details.
