Near the beginning of the week we brought you the news that Fight of Gods – from publishers PQube and indie developers Digital Crafter – had entered Steam Early Access. This game saw numerous deity’s going toe-to-toe, and bore the excellent tagline of “Watch Jesus and Buddha punch the holy $*!% out of each other…”. Well it appears the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission are none too pleased – not only have they requested a ban on this game but they have blocked all access to Steam in Malaysia.
Though PQube have not been contacted directly from the Malaysian Officials (at the time of press), reports indicate Steam has been blocked for all gamers in Malaysia.
Both Digital Crafter and PQube have released a short statement relating to this situation:
“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.”
As the Fight of Gods story unfolds we shall try to bring you more information.
