After Nepal voted to ban another popular battle royale title, gamers and fans of various games have been really nervous about the future of the genre. And even before that, the looming specter of legislation, especially in response to depicted violence or predatory monetization, has been a constant issue within the games industry.
And now, things are getting worse for gamers across the globe as another country has swooped in with good intentions and bad execution and targeted games as a scapegoat for deeper issues. We’ve talked at length how the issues surrounding violence in games are more complex than many are willing to admit, and even discussed ways to help address the actual issues. But one thing we’re firmly against here at ISKMogul is the outright banning of titles in a blanket fashion, much like what the Iraqi parliament has just done this past week.
Iraq’s parliament voted to ban both Fortnite and PUBG, as well as microtransaction purchases that can be made in those games.Their justification for this is predictable, and one might even be tempted to call it justified in a superficial sense. While predatory microtransactions are something that many gamers hate, it’s hard to place the blame for violence at the feet of any particular genre. After all, a clear demarcation exists for most between fiction and reality, and it’s mostly down to social issues and societal problems that cause violence which is often wrongly attributed to video games.
The announcement of this legislation says that the ban was put in place “due to the negative effects caused by some electronic games on the health, culture, and security of Iraqi society, including societal and moral threats to children and youth.”
Gamers in Iraq and across the globe have taken to the internet to express their displeasure with this decision, as can be expected, but it’s hard to say what the future holds in this and any other country that decides to ban these games. To say that people are angry with the parliament would be an understatement. This ban also comes alongside calls that the Iraqi parliament has been generally ineffective, passing only a federal budget this past January when it was formed.
Fortnite and PUBG are out now Android, iOS, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
