According to World Population Review, the list of banned video games keeps changing. Nations often block titles for reasons like extreme violence, sexual themes. Who bans the most? Who barely bans anything at all?
Leading the world in banning video games is China. They have blocked around 60 titles including Devotion, New Horizons. Why? These games feature drugs, violence, crime, sexual content. Often developers modify their games to meet China’s strict regulations.
India also ranks among the top countries for game bans, blocking titles like Clash of Kings, Fallout 3, Free Fire, and more. Fears over violent themes and the need to protect cultural sentiments are some of the reasons.
Games like BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, Darksiders etc are prohibited from being sold in physical stores in UAE. Violence, sexual themes, nudity are some of the reasons. While most are still available digitally, Spec Ops: The Line is completely banned.
Several video games -- Call of Duty: Black Ops, Doom, Silent Hill -- are not allowed. Others have been restricted. Officials worry these titles might promote aggression, adult content, or pose risks to the country’s safety.
In Guatemala, only one game -- Roblox -- has been banned, amid concerns it could endanger young players by exposing them to unsafe interactions and harmful material.
Fortnite and PUBG have been blocked after authorities claimed they harm players’ well-being, influence cultural values, and pose risks to the nation’s safety. Are they really causing a threat?
Certain titles have been pulled off shop shelves for containing extreme brutality and explicit adult themes (Carmageddon and RapeLay), making it one of the countries with very few gaming bans.
Surprisingly, the USA hasn’t banned any games due to belief in free speech. Turkey has debated bans but never enforced them. And Japan? The gaming giant rarely imposes restrictions.