Lots of gamers love playing different video games. They love trying different genres of games to relax. However, there are some games that are banned! Yes! That’s true and I know you won’t believe it. In some countries, they have certain video games that are banned for some reason. But what will happen if you play banned games in your country? Let’s find out!
What happens if we play banned games? The possible scenario that can happen if you play banned games is you can get monetary fines or imprisonment. The penalty of playing banned games depends on the legal system of a certain country.
Is It Illegal To Play Banned Video Games?
Depending on the country’s legal system. In the US, there are no true restrictions, but customer outcry and common sense frequently force bad games like the recently released Active Shooter out of the market.
Other nations may use fines, internet censorship, or incarceration to enforce a prohibition. China and other authoritarian, highly traditional, or religious countries may act similarly to games that are considered forbidden in their societies.
It is actually illegal to play banned video games. If an authority caught you playing banned video games, you can get fined or prisoned. The sanction depends on the country’s law.
Why Do Some Countries Video Games?
It’s no secret that the video game industry is quite lucrative. They are one of the world’s fastest-growing entertainment sectors, in fact. The industry is worth billions of dollars, and they are played in all nations. But there are some nations that video games tend to stay away from.
This is probably caused by a number of elements, such as censorship regulations and cultural disparities. You might be shocked to learn how many nations restrict access to video games and the justifications behind such restrictions. This blog article will go over five nations that video games steer clear of and why. So let’s get started straight now without further ado!
Netherlands
The Netherlands is one of the list’s more unexpected video games inclusions. It’s a small, sparsely populated nation, after all, and its reputation for tolerance precedes it. But when it comes to video games, the Dutch government has some pretty tight regulations.
It labels random loot box games as illegal gambling activities. All video games must receive the Dutch Film and Television Rating Board’s approval before they may be sold in the Netherlands.
For many smaller developers and publishers, this procedure is impractical because it is so time-consuming and expensive. As a result, when Blizzard announced Diablo Immortal, they had to omit mention of the nation.
A Blizzard representative said that nations like Belgium and the Netherlands won’t be able to access Diablo Immortal; the game won’t be available in any of their Google Play or App Stores. In reality, there aren’t many video games available in the Netherlands.
Venezuela
Venezuela is another country with laws about video games that are surprisingly strict. In fact, the government has made it illegal to play any kind of shooting game where people are the targets. This includes games like Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty.
This law was passed in 2009, and it has rules about making, selling, distributing, and showing these kinds of video games. This only happened because there is so much violence in the country. In most Western countries, the main worry about gaming is the number of kids who become addicted to video games. Venezuela, on the other hand, focuses its laws on stopping violence.
The ban had a lot of support from Chávez, who was president at the time. He talked about how he was in some online video games, which he said he had seen. He said that people could kill him in these games and try out all kinds of violence.
President Chávez also named a few game consoles, like Nintendo and Sony, and said that they were bad for people. He also said that video games were used to promote capitalism. The ban on video games in Venezuela is by far the worst, and gamers and game developers all over the world criticize it too much.
Brazil
Brazil is another country that has laws against video games because they are becoming more violent. The government thinks that violent video games are a major reason why there are so many crimes in the country. This is because of a mass shooting in 1999 in which a man killed three people and hurt four others. After the rules went into effect, all stores that sold video games had to give up the banned games and stop selling them.
People in this country can’t play games like Carmageddon, Mortal Kombat, Doom, and Bully. But a few games have just recently been made legal. For example, Counter-Strike was one of the games that was banned for a long time because it was thought to threaten public safety and social order. The game can now be bought online, but it still can’t be bought in stores.
South Korea
South Korea is often thought to be the center of eSports. But video games have been banned in the country for a long time. South Korea isn’t as strict about video games as they used to be, but there are still rules about certain types of games.
Because of their violent content, games like Manhunt, Manhunt 2, and Mortal Kombat are still not allowed in the country. Not too long ago, South Korea also made it illegal to make games that have anything to do with the war between South and North Korea. The goal was to make things less tense between the two countries.
South Korea’s shut-down laws have also been used to ban GTA III, GTA Vice City, and Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, which was thought to be causing diplomatic problems between South and North Korea.
The country is proud to stick to certain values and keep its cultures alive. Because it showed Korean culture in a bad way, Homefront was also banned in the country.
The United Arab Emirates
We are all familiar with the United Arab Emirates and its stringent censorship regulations. As a result, it is hardly surprising that video games are heavily censored in the nation. Video games are prohibited in The United Arab Emirates mostly due to nudity, gambling, violence, sexual material, and homosexuality.
Many contemporary books fit into one of these categories. Because of their strict laws, video games steer clear of these nations. Games that denigrate Muslims or encourage gambling are a serious problem for the government of the United Arab Emirates.
As a result, many of the games that are most popular in the US are prohibited in the nation. God of War, Red Dead Redemption, GTA, Mass Effect, Dead Rising 2, Darksiders, Dead Island, and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare are a few examples.
In addition, the nation tends to impose greater restrictions on the trading of video games. This also holds true for the licensing of video games, where the use of popular game engines is restricted by these restrictions.
Therefore, gamers from the United Arab Emirates struggle to buy certain games from big digital retailers; this is also because of the restrictions on what their credit cards may buy. Only recently has the nation begun to relax its restrictions on online gaming, leading to a significant increase in the number of gamers.
Final Words
If you play banned games, you may face monetary penalties or imprisonment. The penalty for playing banned games is determined by the legal system of the country in question. That is why you must be educated to know what games are banned in your country and try to prevent yourself from playing them.
