Iran follows through on ban on popular video game Battlefield 3, makes arrests
Thursday, December 1st, 2011 5:26:41 by Musa Afridi
Iran follows through on ban on popular video game Battlefield 3, makes arrests
The Iranian government banned the popular first-person shooter Battlefield 3 following the game’s worldwide release and has recently shown just how serious it is about the restriction on content after the authorities made a number of arrests.
The game, which has gone on to sell 8-million units worldwide since its release on the 25th of September, depicts as an invasion of Iran by US forces and that did not sit well with the government or its people.
A group of 5,000 students put up an online petition which pointed out that although they knew that the game was based on a hypothetical situation that the game was being used to influence the mindsets of the players and paint the wrong picture of the country.
Seeing how 51% of the population in the United Kingdom is either directly or indirectly involved in video games, the Iranian government may have a case, yet there is no concrete proof as to whether there is a correlation between video games and opinion formation.
The government recently went on a number of raids where they caught and arrested a number of shopkeepers and traders who were dealing in both original and pirated copies of the game. The sales were being made secretly and of course, illegally.
It is not the first time that a government has banned certain video games from entering or being played in their country as both Germany and Australia have strict policies as to what content can enter the country from this particular industry.
Germany is known for asking developers to turn the colour of blood green to reduce the gore factor and Australia bans games outright. However, certain media outlets are jumping on Iran’s situation as if they are unaware of the practices of the other countries.
The game’s publisher, Electronic Arts, are not too bothered about the situation as they officially stated that they do not distribute Battlefield 3 in the region and were content knowing that the government is not allowing the sale of pirated copies of the
game.
Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=5268
Posted by Musa Afridi
on Dec 1 2011. Filed under Entertainment, Middle East, Sci-Tech, World.
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