Jakarta –
Basically, video games are made for entertainment. But in fact, there are games that have been banned in several countries.
Given its essence as entertainment, developers are competing to create games that have various kinds of content in them. However, not all countries accept the things presented by the developers.
Some countries have blocked video games because they are concerned about the benefit of their citizens. The existence of violent content and the potential to change the mindset of players in their country, has made them ban a number of games from circulating. As a result, the developers have to feel the impact.
What game titles have managed to infuriate several countries until they were eventually blocked? Please refer to the following article:
1. Battlefield 4
This First-Person Shooter genre game is actually really fun to play. The title made by EA DICE is a continuation series that was released in October 2013. Battlefield fans awaited his presence. You see, this game was already famous even before the arrival of Counter-Strike. In the past, not many FPS titles had an in-depth storyline like Battlefield 4.
However, some countries including China consider that there is content in the game that denounces China’s image. The reason is that in the Battlefield pack extension entitled China Rising, there are many things that carry the country’s war troops. One of them was Admiral Chang’s betrayal of overthrowing the local government. From here, the Chinese state prohibits the circulation of Battlefield 4 on any platform including PC and Playstation.
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizon
Who would have thought a game as relaxed as Animal Crossing: New Horizon could be banned from China and some of its allies? Nintendo did not think that there were players who created an anti-government message through the custom pattern tool. No half-hearted, the government prohibits the circulation of this game officially in the country.
Of course, this ban had an impact on the Nintendo market in China. This is because since it was released in March 2020, this game was loved because it was an attractive alternative entertainment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, distributors still have an event to sell this game to players via the gray market.
3. PUBG Mobile
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PUBG Mobile Photos: (Tencent)— |
The Battle Royale genre has its own place for fans of shooting games, including PUBG Mobile. This game made by Tencent has skyrocketed since its release in 2018. Not only in the game industry, PUBG Mobile is also raising the realm of the competitive scene (Esports) in Indonesia. However, not all agree that PUBG Mobile is a game that can lift the gaming market.
India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan strictly prohibit PUBG Mobile from circulating in their countries. The reasons are different. India has a conflict on the border between the Galwan Valley and China which has resulted in the blocking of 89 mobile applications from China, including PUBG Mobile. If Pakistan and Afghanistan have the same problem, that is, this game has a bad psychological impact on teenagers there because it contains many elements of violence.
Uniquely, the blocking in India did not reduce the Tencent Games market. Reported by Sensor Tower, PUBG Mobile’s revenue actually increased from the previous year by 13.3% from September 2019-September 2020. Among the world’s mobile games, PUBG Mobile is in second place after Honor of Kings.
4. Mortal Kombat Series
 Mortal Kombat (imdb.)— |
It must be admitted that Mortal Kombat has pretty extreme violent content. You see, there is a lot of blood and brutal scenes that are displayed in it. This was criticized as being able to endanger the mental state of Brazilian and German citizens. The reason is that the level of violence in Brazil is quite alarming and the presence of the Mortal Kombat series in his country is felt to have the potential to increase crime.
In Germany, this game was blocked because it was considered uneducative. The government also forced the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to put a rating label on each Mortal Kombat title. This was intended so that Germany had a reason to block them because they had set their own limits on violence ratings.
5. Postal Series
Among these titles, the Postal game franchise is the most blocked, which is up to 13 countries. New Zealand and Sweden are the countries that strictly prohibit this game from circulating in their country. The reason is that there is too much controversial and violent content in it.
Even The US Postal Service (USPS) sued the developer, namely Run With Scissors, for tarnishing their good name in the game. The trial ran for six years and resulted in blocking of Postal titles.
It must be admitted that, this game contains a lot of very dangerous content. From the scene of the terrorists blowing up a building, mass murder, to resistance to the government, are the main motives for missions that take place in the game. The 13 countries that blocked the game greatly worried the mindset of the people in 1997 when the first title was released.
Finally, the developer gave in and tried to soften some of the content that was considered worrying. In 2013, Run With Scissors re-released Postal on Steam, even in 2016 they remake Postal Redux so that it can be played on more modern hardware, they even maximize the graphics using Unreal Engine 4.
* This article is a collaboration between detikINET and Team RRQ.
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