Their Government REALLY Doesn’t Want the People to Play This Game
Okay, so Fight of Gods looks really cool, but you can understand why people would be upset about it, right? The act of pitting sacred icons against one another is pretty much bound to ruffle a lot of feathers. So, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that the government of Malaysia had a bad reaction to the fact that this game exists. What is surprising is the extent of their reaction.
Whereas some people/government entities would just ban the game, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has blocked the entire country’s Steam access. That seems… excessive, doesn’t it? Like, presumably they’ll rescind this draconian measure once the game is no longer for sale on Steam (one would hope), but you have to wonder how offended you have to be in order to justify this kind of response. This is plague-containment strategy. This is ‘nuke it from orbit’ strategy. Digital Crafter and PQube had this to say regarding the government’s decision:
Fight of Gods is a video game that takes a humorous approach to religion in the same way that other entertainment formats have – across television, film, books and theatre.
The game is not promoting any religious agenda and is not designed to offend. The description of the game on the digital platforms through which it is distributed provide clear guidance on the nature of the game and its content so that people can freely choose whether or not to play it. We fully respect the choice of those who would not wish to play it.
We are disappointed that such freedom of choice is not given to everyone and in particular that the game has been forcibly removed from sale in Malaysia, although no direct communication has been received by us as to the reasons for this. Nevertheless we respect any rules and censorship imposed in any given territory.
We have reached out to Steam and are working with them to resolve the situation as soon as possible.
Fight of Gods is available right now on Steam (on sale until the 11th!), assuming you don’t live in Malaysia.
SOURCE: Press Release