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Banned Video Games by Country 2024

  • Ban lists can expand rapidly. As such, the lists below should be viewed as guidelines rather than comprehensive lists.
  • Many countries ban games which contain a certain type of content, such as gambling, graphic violence, or sexual content.
  • As a result, while a small number of games may be officially banned by name, many additional games that contain similar content are unofficially banned because publishers decide not to release the game in that country (in an effort to avoid further bans).

30 countries

Country
Sample Banned Games
Reason(s) for Ban(s)
Afghanistan
  • 1996–2001: All videogames
  • 2001-onward: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
  • Western technology and bad influence
Iran
  • 1979 Revolution: Black Friday
  • ARMA 3
  • Battlefield 3
  • Call of Duty: Mobile
  • Clash of Clans
  • Pokémon Go
  • Iran typically bans any game that contains excessive violence, depicts cruelty, features strong sexual content or nudity, or portrays the Middle East negatively.
Mexico
  • Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
  • Game was banned in the state of Chihuahua due to its depiction of Mexican rebels as antagonists and for stereotyping the cities of Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juárez. However, the game could still be found in shelves in other parts of Mexico.
Singapore
  • The Darkness
  • Half-Life
  • Mass Effect (rescinded)
  • Violence and homesexual content.
Australia
  • Several hundred games and mobile apps
  • Numerous video games have been banned from Australia due to receiving an RC rating.
Guatemala
  • Roblox
  • It can violate the safety of children and adolescents.
Oman
  • Roblox
  • Because of online daters and scammers.
Albania
  • Online gambling content
  • Since 2016
Ukraine
  • Mortal Kombat 11
  • Graphic blood and gore and depictions of communist symbolism, which is banned per Ukrainian law
Ireland
  • Manhunt 2 (ban rescinded)
  • Banned for "gross, unrelenting and gratuitous violence", but the ban was later lifted and the game was given a PEGI 18 rating.
South Korea
  • Homefront
  • Manhunt series
  • Mortal Kombat
  • Since 2006, South Korea has banned video games only on rare occasions. Even before 2006, games were very rarely banned unless they portrayed war between North Korea and South Korea.
  • However, Manhunt, Manhunt 2, and Mortal Kombat are still banned because of violence and cruelty.
Thailand
  • Grand Theft Auto series
  • Tropico 5
  • 18-year-old Thai player supposedly influenced by Grand Theft Auto killed a taxi driver from Bangkok.
  • Tropico was said to have the potential to "affect peace and order".
Malaysia
  • Grand Theft Auto series
  • Manhunt series
  • Mortal Kombat
  • Malaysia tends to ban potentially offensive content such as extreme violence, depictions of cruelty, anti-Muslim content, sexual content, and nudity.
Iraq
  • Fortnite
  • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
  • Negative effects caused by some electronic games on the health, culture, and security of Iraqi society.
Russia
  • For Freedom Ichkeriya: BAMUT
  • Largely due to the game's negative representation of the country.
  • Contrary to popular belief, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which contains a mission titled "No Russian" in which Russians slaughter civilians in an airport, is not banned in Russia. However, the mission in question was removed from the Russian version of the game.
Saudi Arabia
  • Final Fantasy XVI
  • The Last of Us Part II
  • Typically banned for graphic violence, sexual content, or nudity.
  • Most banned games can be found in many stores (often at a substantial price) due to a lack of government enforcement of bans. However, not all major stores will stock banned titles.
Brazil
  • EverQuest
  • Mainly due to depictions of violence and cruelty. The Brazilian advisory rating system requires that all video games be rated by the organization, where unrated video games are banned from being sold in Brazil.
Philippines
  • Defense of the Ancients
  • While no video games are banned nationwide so far since 1986, at least one title, Defense of the Ancients, has been banned at a barangay in Dasmariñas, Cavite.
  • The ban followed complaints of delinquency issues, and two murder incidents which resulted from brawls in relation to the game.
Germany
  • Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines
  • Condemned: Criminal Origins
  • Hatred
  • Mortal Kombat (2011)
  • Wolfenstein
  • and more
  • A video game can be banned in Germany if it is confiscated by court orders because it violates a section of the Strafgesetzbuch (criminal code).
  • StGB § 86a outlaws the use of symbols of unconstitutional organisations [Nazi imagery in particular]; representation of excessive violence in media which "describe cruel or otherwise inhuman acts of violence against human or humanoid beings in a manner which expresses a glorification or rendering harmless of such acts of violence or which represents the cruel or inhuman aspects of the event in a manner which injures human dignity."
  • Blood is often removed from games for the German market.
India
  • Clash of Kings
  • Fallout 3
  • Free Fire
  • Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
  • PUBG Mobile
  • Rules of Survival
  • Cultural sensitivities, violence, and the Indian government's ban on 59 Chinese-owned apps.
United Kingdom
  • Carmageddon
  • Manhunt 2
  • Omega Labyrinth
  • The Punisher
  • Sex Vixens from Space
  • Games in the UK usually only fail to receive a certification rating (effectively a ban) when they contain graphic sex scenes and/or gratuitous violence.
Argentina
  • Carmageddon
  • RapeLay
  • Violent and sexually explicit content
Belgium
  • Call of Duty: Mobile
  • FIFA 17
  • Gears of War 4
  • Mario Kart Tour
  • Phantasy Star Online 2
  • and more
  • Due to the usage of "loot boxes" (which constitute gambling under the country's existing laws) and their equivalents.
Uzbekistan
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops
  • Doom
  • Silent Hill
  • Resident Evil
  • Mortal Kombat
  • The Sims
  • and more
  • Authorities in Uzbekistan banned a number of games over concerns that they could be "used to propagate violence, pornography, threaten security and social and political stability".
Pakistan
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops II
  • Medal of Honor
  • Due to their portrayal of Pakistan as a failed state where terrorist organizations openly operate.
United Arab Emirates
  • BlazBlue: Continuum Shift
  • Darksiders
  • Dead Rising 2
  • God of War series
  • Heavy Rain
  • Spec Ops: The Line
  • Valkyrie Drive: Bhikkhuni
  • and more
  • Violence and sexual themes, nudity, gambling, contradicting with customs and traditions.
  • These titles are banned from mainstream physical retail.
  • Most of these games can still be seen on digital storefronts such as the PlayStation Store.
  • However, Spec Ops: The Line, which depicts Dubai as decaying and ruled by a rogue military faction, is aggressively banned from UAE, to the degree that the government even blocks access to the game's website.
China
  • Alliance of Valiant Arms
  • Animal Crossing: New Horizons
  • Battlefield 4
  • Command & Conquer: Generals
  • Devotion
  • Football Manager 2005
  • Fortnite
  • Paladins
  • and more
  • A very large number of video games are banned in mainland China.
  • Games that depict drugs, sexuality, blood, organized crime or defamation of the Chinese government are almost always banned.
  • Because of the large size of the Chinese video game market, many studios edit the content of their games to conform to the government's standards.
United States
  • Games are a form of protected speech in the US and cannot be banned—although at least three have been recalled by court order: The Guy Game (underaged nudity), Too Human, and X-Men: Destiny (both for software copyright infringement).
  • However, the Entertainment Software Rating Board's highest rating, "Adults Only", is considered an unofficial ban, as most retailers refuse to stock games carrying the rating, and AO-rated cannot be published on major video game consoles due to company policies.
  • AO-rated games include Thrill Kill, which was cancelled to avoid an AO rating, and the initial release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, whose rating was raised to AO upon the discovery of a hidden sex-themed mini-game.
  • Known as "Hot Coffee", the mini-game was patched out of future versions of GTA:SA and the rating reverted back to M (Mature).
Japan
  • Video games are rarely banned in Japan, and it holds the place as one of the top video game producers in the world. However, Western game companies may edit or censor their games to avoid the potential to offend Japanese players.
  • One example of this is the Japanese version of Fallout 3, in which the violence was made less graphic, a quest involving detonating a nuclear bomb was removed, and the "Fat Man" weapon (whose name references the nuclear bomb that destroyed Nagasaki in 1945) was renamed to "Nuka Launcher".
Turkey
  • Many requests and recommendations have been made to ban games featuring violence (particularly against women) since as early as the 2000s. However, no bans have taken place.

Which country has banned the most video games?

Mainland China has banned more video games and live-streaming than any other country -- an estimated 60 video games worldwide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources