Saudi Arabia bans ‘Final Fantasy 16’ game
May 11, 2023
“Final Fantasy 16,” a new game in the Final Fantasy Franchise created by Square Enix, is expected to be released on June 22 on the Playstation platforms however the developers state that a Windows port may come sometime next year. The game has already been banned in Saudi Arabia and freshman Rohan Jarzin fears the developers might censor the games to appeal to international markets because Final Fantasy has been known for its outlandish and mature content.
“I worry that the game will be delayed so the developers can censor it for Saudi Arabian officials,” Jarzin said. “The last game [“Final Fantasy 15”] came out in 2016, almost seven years ago and all we have had since then were remakes and remasters. Many companies in the games industry already censor themselves in the western versions in order to appeal to China and the CCP’s regulations.”
But sophomore Yassir Hammoud does not believe this ban will affect the U.S. version of the game.
“The Saudi Arabian gaming market is relatively new,” he said. “Even if Square Enix wanted to capture customers from that area — which they do not need to anyway — they would just release that version of the game separately and censor it like how other publishers, who talk about the Nazis or put them in their game, may censor the swastikas in the the German version.”
By Aashish Adireddy