Banned PS5 Game Made Free With PlayStation Plus

A banned PS5 game has been made free with PlayStation Plus, with availability set to begin on June 16. The game will specifically be free with PlayStation Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium tiers for an unknown amount of time, but will not be made available to PS Plus Essential subscribers. And depending on where you are in the world, it won’t be available at any tier of the Sony subscription service because, in some markets, the game is banned entirely.

Back on June 22, 2023, a PS5 exclusive — at the time — was released by developer Square Enix. This game is Final Fantasy XVI. When the Square Enix RPG launched, it was barred from release in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East. And this has never been overturned, and there is no reason to expect it to be overturned. Consquently, PS Plus subscribers in this part of the world will not be getting Final Fantasy XVI as part of June’s PS Plus Extra and Premium lineup.

Why Is Final Fantasy XVI Banned in Saudi Arabia and More?

We don’t have an official explanation on why Final Fantasy XVI has been prevented from release in Saudi Arabia and other parts of the Middle East, but we have seen games banned from these countries for both violent content and LGBT content. The latter is more common, but the former does happen. Final Fantasy XVI is a violent game, but not overly violent. It’s a pretty standard video game in this regard, so it’s probably the latter.

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For those who don’t know or don’t remember, the Square Enix RPG has LGBT characters with an LGBT romance. More specifically, the romance between Dion Lesage and Terence. That’s it, though. In the past, this has been enough to get games banned in these countries, so this is probably what it is, but this has never been officially confirmed. Many games will get past these restrictions with a revised version of their game for these specific markets, but Square Enix never exercised this option.

Final Fantasy XVI is the highlight of this month’s lineup, not just a random game in it, so this is going to be disappointing news for some PS Plus subscribers. Sometimes, games will be substituted with another when this happens, but this does not appear to be the case this time.

All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the video game conversations happening over on the ComicBook Forum.