Saudi Arabia Report of 47 Games Being Banned Due to Suicide Proven False

Just last week The Hollywood Reporter ran a report about a whopping 47 games being banned following the tragic suicide of two young children. The media surrounding the incident both locally and worldwide was quick to blame online gaming, prompting the report of drastic action taking place. Now Ubisoft's Middle Eastern Head of Localization, Malek Teffaha, is here to set the record straight regarding the now disproven report.

According to Teffaha to the Games Industry site, "One inaccurate article from AP has caused a heap of mess externally and internally. Saudi has not issued a banning of 47 games on Monday. These are legacy banned titles. I beg you AP, please remove the article and clarify the mistake."

He added, "It's insane to see more Western media cover the same exact story because it came from you, when neither GCAM nor any local publisher was contacted to clarify. You have scared developers and distributors into thinking that their approved games are in danger. You are helping propagate stereotypes and ruin years worth of progress and work we and other publishers have strived to achieve, all in the span of one inaccurate article. Please own up, and admit to your mistake and mess and help clean it up."

He also clarified that they haven't had any of their games banned in years with the exception of Watch Dogs 2 and South Park. The previous Far Cry 3/Far Cry 4 bans were overturned immediately.

There were changes to games, one of the titles listed in the original report was The Witcher. Saudi Arabia localization did prompt the nudity to be censored, which actually isn't all that uncommon. Japanese gamers are familiar with this level of censorship as well.

Unfortunately, we were one of the sites that ran the initial report from Hollywood Reporter, and for that we are truly sorry. We are glad to have this clarification, no one wishes to make a difficult situation even harder.

What are your thoughts on censorship in games varied from region to region? Were there any games banned that you are aware of that you think were shelved unfairly? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below!