Final Fantasy 16has been banned in Saudi Arabia by the country’s Public Authority for Audiovisual.Final Fantasy 16is easily one of the most hotly-anticipated new game releases of the year, so fans of the franchise in Saudi Arabia are likely not happy about the news.
Final Fantasy 16is firmly rooted in series' traditions while simultaneously pulling it new directions. One key difference betweenFinal Fantasy 16and its predecessors is the fact thatFF16will be M-rated- the first time a main seriesFinal Fantasygame has been given that rating by the ESRB.Final Fantasy 16’s M rating means that it will have more adult content compared to other games in the franchise.
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Specifics as to whyFinal Fantasy 16is being banned inSaudi Arabiaare unavailable at the time of this writing beyond that Square Enix won’t make some changes to the game that have been requested by Saudi Arabia’s Public Authority for Audiovisual Media. It’s entirely possible some of the content that made it an M-rated game is whyFinal Fantasy 16is being banned in Saudi Arabia, but it’s possible that the ban is coming about due to other reasons entirely. Unless some clarification is provided, all fans can do is speculate as to whyFinal Fantasy 16is banned in Saudi Arabia.
Final Fantasy 16’s M-rating has revealed some interesting details about the gameand clued fans in on the kind of content they can expect when it launches next month. It’s been confirmed thatFinal Fantasy 16will have blood and gore, partial nudity, sexual themes, strong language, and violence. It seems possible that the sexual content inFinal Fantasy 16is what caused Saudi Arabia to ban it, but again, that’s just speculation.
To go into too many more details about the game’s M-rating would venture intoFinal Fantasy 16story spoilers, but rest assured that the game will have some graphic acts of violence as well. Square Enix doesn’t seem to be pulling its punches withFinal Fantasy 16, and it will be interesting to see how longtime fans of the franchise react to this tonal shift come launch in June.
Final Fantasy 16launches June 22, exclusively for PS5.
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