Kodoan.com – Saudi Arabia’s Committee on Listening Authorization announced on Wednesday that the government’s Ministry of Communications has not approved the RPG. Final Fantasy XVI by Square Enix for release in Saudi Arabia. The government agency did not provide a reason for the ban, but added that Square Enix “was not willing to make the necessary modifications.”
The ESRB has rated the game “Mature”, describing the level of violence in the game — including excessive use of blood, injury, dismemberment, stabbing, and torture — as well as sexually explicit or sexually explicit content, including the presence of a brothel, a character “stroking and tying a man to a bed,” and random dialogue and character references to prostitution.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications (formerly the Ministry of Culture and Information) generally bans games that do not meet the agency’s standards for media released in the country.
The game will launch on June 22 for PlayStation 5 as a PlayStation exclusive until December 31. Although the original live-streamed trailer listed a PC release, the trailer does. The game’s description and website do not list the PC version.
Square Enix’s Creative Business Unit III division is developing the game. Naoki Yoshida is producing Final Fantasy XVI, and Hiroshi Takai is directing the game.
Theo: Kodoani.com
