Games and stupid reasons why they are banned in many countries

From violence, incitement to violence, overly sensitive sexuality or historical distortion to a nation’s pride – there are countless reasons why a game could be banned. After all, the game is no stranger to controversy, but there are some titles games are banned for reasons that are so inexplicable.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow
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One of Ubisoft’s famous titles – Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow has been banned in Indonesia for extremely silly reasons. Pandora Tomorrow’s plot revolves around a group of terrorists named Dorah dan Doa, which translates into English as “Blood and Prayer”. The name is nothing special, but for some reason, the Indonesian president considers this a threat to himself and the people of his country, so he immediately ordered a ban. Those who are planning to travel to Indonesia should also be careful with “Blood and Prayer” because it seems to be a rather sensitive phrase in this country.

Football Manager 2005
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Sega’s football management game attracted a large number of gamers around the world but in 2005 it was banned in China due to threatening the “sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the country. Why? Since the game listed Hong Kong, Tibet and Taiwan as independent countries while China considered it an insult because in theory all three regions are owned by China.

The Darkness (Xbox 360 Version)
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Back in 2007 when the action role-playing game The Darkness was released on Xbox 360 and PS3 but in Singapore the Xbox 360 version was banned for excessive violence. Inciting violence – a perfectly legitimate reason if both versions are identical but only Xbox 360 is banned. Or does Sony have some hidden power that can overpower Singapore’s censorship agency, no one knows!

Pokémon Trading Card Game
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Any gamer who grew up in the late ’90s has heard of Pokemon more or less. Apparently this was a very popular brand at the time. However, in Saudi Arabia, playing the Pokémon Trading Card Game is considered a crime, because it supports Zionism. The reason the country’s authorities think so is because one of the symbols on the game’s energy card resembles the Star of David (symbol for Jewish identity and Judaism). They see this as a subtle way of promoting the Jewish secret agenda, going against the country’s politics.

Counter-Strike
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Counter-Strike is a legend of the FPS village, but in the eyes of the Brazilian authorities, the meaning of the game is nowhere to be seen, it only brings “advocating to overthrow the social order, trying to fight the people’s state.” owners as well as the safety of the community.” In fact, the game mentions Favela, a type of slum in Brazil. Not wanting to acknowledge the existence of poverty and destitute, the government decided to ban Counter-Strike as a way to hide from the truth.

(To be continued)​