Joining the numerous list of entertainment being banned in certain countries for one reason or another it seems Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has now been hit with a ban in Saudi Arabia and completely removed for pre-order from the PlayStation store.
It may take the shape or form of a certain lifestyle choice or a simple gesture in-game to get it censored or banned in certain places across the world. However knowing the context and the background of Spider-Man, the idea that any of the content featured could potentially be harmful or run the risk of it being restricted from ever seeing the light of day is quite shocking.
What could have possibly lead to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 being pulled!?
Considering the controversy that surrounded a poster in a single frame of the worldwide phenomenon that was ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘ simply stating ‘trans lives matter’ was enough to get the film pulled in multiple Middle Eastern countries we can only speculate on what insomniac has placed in the follow up to the hugely successful first outing of the web-slinger to lead to this issue.
Read also: Is Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Banned in the Middle East?
The subject matter of anything in media today is a minefield when it comes to creative content, alongside a lot of creative entities wanting to give an audience the best content they can concoct, we can only imagine that this is met with the pressures of writing and creating whilst also wanting to please all and not upset anybody in the process.
It has been noted that a lot of fans have mentioned that the game is unavailable for pre-order on the official PS store, considering it is one of the biggest launches this year for PlayStation and gaming, this isn’t a good sign considering the reasoning behind it is yet to be revealed.
Knowing how well Insomniac did with the first game making it so well-rounded and including topics and subject matter that by all means should have been met with extreme caution means they are not afraid to mix up fantasy and reality to create the best game they can with the material they have.
For the game to receive such harsh restrictions means Insomniac have either decided to stick to their guns in regard to whatever it is that has caused the issue in the first place, or this is a temporary ban in order to rectify the situation and work around the issue at hand. Either way for the fans in Saudi Arabia this would be an extremely harsh blow not being able to experience the game alongside the rest of us upon release.
Another big recent title Final Fantasy 16 was also banned in Saudi Arabia after company Square Enix apparently refused to abide by the modifications required to change in the game to make it suitable for sale in the country, the reasoning behind this can be a number of reasons but this is why we have USK / PEGI / CERO / ERSB for individuals to make their own choice on what they consume in any form of media.
Given that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is another title this year releasing with limited edition material including custom faceplates for the PlayStation 5, alongside a custom DualSense controller and a limited collector’s edition with a digital copy of the game that you can only purchase on the PS direct website, this may have also been restricted from sale.
Relatable: Final Fantasy 16 Drops from Sales Charts, But Due to Digital Sales, That’s Only Half the Story
With the inclusion of multiple characters in the form of ‘Peter Parker’ and ‘Miles Morales’ both being playable in the game we can only hope that Insomniac may be including a multiverse twist in their game for a third outing. Should this be the case we may see a certain ghost spider’s inclusion being teased, with this in mind Insomniac may have written this character as a Trans character which could have led to this issue, we can only wait and see.
What are your thoughts/feelings on Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 being removed from the Saudi Arabia PS Store? Do you think Insomniac like Square Enix should stick to their guns and release it as is or alter the content? As always Let us know in the comments!
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