Massacre, Religion and Sex: Dante's Inferno Skips Middle East
Religious themes won't go down very well.
Yeah, that might have done it.
The Middle East can be quite conservative when it comes to touchy subjects in games and media, particularly involving religion. Darksiders has been banned in the UAE, and God of War has suffered a similar fate simply for its name. Now, it's Dante's Inferno's turn to skip the region.
EA's taken a different tack though – instead of having the game banned, it's simply not going to bother sending it in for certification; “Electronic Arts has decided not to release Dante's Inferno in the Middle East after an evaluation process which is based on consumer tastes, preferences, platform mix and other factors,” reads a statement.
It's not hard to see why the publisher would come to that conclusion. Themes of death, sin and the afterlife, coupled with gratuitous violence, nudity and other things isn't likely to go down too well in the region.
The fact that, for reasons known only to developers Visceral, Dante is a crusader who took part in the Siege of Acre, in which the Christian armies under control of Richard I massacred some 2,700 Muslim prisoners by decapitation, could also be politically sensitive.
GamesLatest notes that, of the big action games this Spring, only Bayonetta has been officially released.
Guess those who are wanting to play it will be having a 'hell' of a time importing it. Hopefully the charges won't be too 'ungodly'. OK, I'll stop.
EA's taken a different tack though – instead of having the game banned, it's simply not going to bother sending it in for certification; “Electronic Arts has decided not to release Dante's Inferno in the Middle East after an evaluation process which is based on consumer tastes, preferences, platform mix and other factors,” reads a statement.
It's not hard to see why the publisher would come to that conclusion. Themes of death, sin and the afterlife, coupled with gratuitous violence, nudity and other things isn't likely to go down too well in the region.
The fact that, for reasons known only to developers Visceral, Dante is a crusader who took part in the Siege of Acre, in which the Christian armies under control of Richard I massacred some 2,700 Muslim prisoners by decapitation, could also be politically sensitive.
GamesLatest notes that, of the big action games this Spring, only Bayonetta has been officially released.
Guess those who are wanting to play it will be having a 'hell' of a time importing it. Hopefully the charges won't be too 'ungodly'. OK, I'll stop.
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