Until yesterday, it was just a guess, but now we’ve received official confirmation. Square Enix’s latest expansion of the Final Fantasy universe won’t be available in Saudi Arabia — the country’s commission that handles video game rating has voiced its strong opposition.
Final Fantasy XVI can be safely included as one of the most anticipated debuts of the year – every published material shows that the Japanese developers have created an accurate and promising production. Sony is also gearing up to debut, celebrating the launch of the Clive Rosfield story with new accessories available for purchase in Japan.
However, Final Fantasy fans may be concerned about recent reports regarding the game’s potential ban in select countries in the Arabian Peninsula. According to Hattan Al-Taweel, an employee of the government ratings agency, the upcoming post may not debut in Saudi Arabia, and everything is likely to be blamed on LGBT+ leads introduced in the production, which previous news about a possible ban suggested. . The rumors have just been confirmed.
The General Authority for Audiovisual Media announced in its latest entry on social media that Final Fantasy XVI will not be published in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Office representatives explained that Square Enix, as the official publisher, refused to make the proposed changes.
For fans of #FinalFantasyXIV, we would like to clarify that the game will not be released in the Kingdom due to the publisher’s reluctance to make the necessary modifications.
Game for fans #FinalFantasyXIVSee more See more.
See more #Visual _ and _ audio # Rating_games pic.twitter.com/5OuWZJGEvX
– Age Rating of Electronic Games (VGAR_SA) May 3, 2023
From the entries posted before the official news, we can learn that negotiations regarding changes to the game were supposed to last up to 8 months, but the Japanese didn’t want to agree to any of them. Modify the content to suit the region.
