[UPDATED] Malaysia blocks Steam entirely to stop FIGHT OF GODS

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Released on Steam Early Access this week, Fight of Gods is a fighting game that features deities like Moses, Jesus, Zeus, Buddha and even Anubis!



If you thought it couldn't get even more intense, then you were wrong! The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission have called for a ban on the game and asked for it to be disabled within 24 hours or face further actions. And then Steam was entirely banned.

In a press release, PQube, the game's publisher, noted that "we never received any communications from Malaysian officials here at PQube, however reports seem to indicate that Malaysia has now blocked access to all of Steam in order to prevent access to Fight of Gods."

Talking to The Star about their actions, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission had the following to say: "Malaysians respect all cultural and religious sensitivities, and the sale and distribution of the religiously insensitive and blasphemous games must be stopped immediately."

Below is a short statement on the matter from Digital Crafter and PQube:

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.

Kotaku reached out to Valve and they replied with the following statement:

Right now players in Malaysia can access the games they own on Steam, but the Steam Store is being blocked by some local telcos in Malaysia. From reports we are reading, this is due to a single game that conflicts with local laws. We have contacted the developer, removed the game, and are attempting to make contact with the officials in Malaysia to remove the block. We apologize for any inconvenience.

So what do you think of this ban? Somewhat reminiscent of the Russian Pokémon GO player who was recently jailed for playing the game in a church, no?

UPDATE:

It seems like Steam has been unblocked in Malaysia while Fight of Gods has been removed from the digital game distribution platform in the country.

:arrow: SOURCE: GBAtemp Inbox
 
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Hells Malice

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Yet another reason I am an atheist.

...because the Malaysian government blocked an online videogame distribution platform because of one videogame?

Atheists say the dumbest fucking things sometimes.
/is atheist
 

duffmmann

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I'm sure the game doesn't have Muhammad,which I think really illustrates that the creators are aware of how controversial such a game really is. Somehow they're shocked that a country would block the game yet they understand that implementing that one religious figure could have serious ramifications from extremist groups. When it comes to this kind of content it shouldn't come as a surprise at all that territories would want to block the game entirely. Not saying I agree with it, just that I don't see why this should be so surprising to anyone.
 
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the_randomizer

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...because the Malaysian government blocked an online videogame distribution platform because of one videogame?

Atheists say the dumbest fucking things sometimes.
/is atheist

So you defend a government's pusillanimous pantywaist approach to censor a game, nay, an entire online service to not offend little Timmy O'Toole?
 
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Hells Malice

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So you defend a government's pusillanimous pantywaist approach to censor a game, nay, an entire online service to not offend little Timmy O'Toole?

No i'm just not the kind of retard who bases an entire belief on the actions of a tiny minority of people who claim to be of that belief.
Just like I don't think all whites are violent racists and all blacks are criminals.

Nowhere in this news story does it say there was a mass outcry by members of a religion to punish this game or ban it.
It was a small group of government officials who personally got offended by a title, and sought to use their power to remove something they didn't personally approve of.
How you dumbasses got a religious debate out of this would normally baffle me, but GBAtemp has done a lot more with a lot less so what can I say.
 

the_randomizer

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No i'm just not the kind of retard who bases an entire belief on the actions of a tiny minority of people who claim to be of that belief.
Just like I don't think all whites are violent racists and all blacks are criminals.

Nowhere in this news story does it say there was a mass outcry by members of a religion to punish this game or ban it.
It was a small group of government officials who personally got offended by a title, and sought to use their power to remove something they didn't personally approve of.
How you dumbasses got a religious debate out of this would normally baffle me, but GBAtemp has ton a lot more with a lot less so what can I say.

Thanks for the name calling though and lumping people together by calling us dumbasses, appreciate it. If these people get asshurt over something they don't agree with, it's their own fucking fault for not having thicker skin. I say boo hoo to them.
 
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Hells Malice

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Thanks for the name calling though and lumping people together by calling us dumbasses, appreciate it. If these people get asshurt over something they don't agree with, it's their own fucking fault for not having thicker skin. I say boo hoo to them.

To be honest the way you're replying to my posts more than proves you are one.
Especially considering nothing I said was in defense of their actions.
But of course you wouldn't be here being offended if you weren't a professional at jumping to conclusions and drawing your own truths.

Please don't waste my time quoting my posts, if you would. I appreciate it.
 
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the_randomizer

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To be honest the way you're replying to my posts more than proves you are one.
Especially considering nothing I said was in defense of their actions.
But of course you wouldn't be here being offended if you weren't a professional at jumping to conclusions and drawing your own truths.

Please don't waste my time quoting my posts, if you would. I appreciate it.

Fine, whatever. Think whatever you want, spread your ad hominem BS all you want.

I still think that this is too extreme, they should ban the game, not Steam as a whole. It's like burning an entire field down just to get rid of weeds instead of digging the weeds out of the ground.
 
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Abu_Senpai

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I'm sorry but what? The God depicted in SMT4 Final is without a doubt the Christian/Hebrew God.

Again, i get that they call him YHVH and that is the Hebrew god etc.... But until they come right out and start name dropping religions there wont be any problems. I think right now despite there being hints of catholic and Hebrew backdrops in the SMT games they wont really reach the attention of the masses yet. But mark my words the moment an SMT game name-drops or solidifies the background of its characters to be 100% rooted in any religions(and THAT includes adding the religions themselves into the games) THAT is the moment it will begin to have noticeable controversy and it will be interesting to see how much of an effect that could have on the final version of said game. That is at least my two cents on the matter.

There're also no reliable drawings of Jesus either, or just a reliable proof that he ever existed to begin with.
Look at Odin in this game. His helmet has horns, the idea that viking and there gods used horns at there helmets is a idea from Richard Wagner. There is no source that says Odin would have a helmet with horns.
I guess the look of all character in this game is just based on the phantasy of artists and technically we have a kind of common sense how Muhammad looks like, thanks to the comics a couple of years ago ;)
Which means a DLC would be possible, but I doub they make it happend.

Whether or not said entities existed isn't what i was talking about. You have your beliefs and i have mine. But Rather i was just saying that IF or When such a thing does happen, it will be interesting to see the major backlash that happens and how far some people will go in order to get their revenge. Especially in the world we live in today where everything and everyone are vulnerable as hell.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

LOL NOW Rajan Zed is on the LINE LOOOOL

https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2017/...d-again-this-time-from-hindu-statesmen/39122/
 

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in the gaming industry, the CONSUMERS gave the power, and they can take it away. therefore, if its offensive to someone, they can simply not buy it
(not trying to start an argument)

While true to some extent, not true in all cases. Even before it goes to a market where anyone has the option of voting with their wallet, a game usually has to be looked at by whatever service is trying to host it for content which is illegal, extreme, or hateful. Regardless of consumer views, these outlets end up being responsible for what is hosted on their site and how it is used. Even looking at less public release methods where there is not nearly as much oversight, like Patreon and similar clones, the majority of these will shut down accounts and projects (sharing information with authorities) if the content hosted is objectionable enough. It's not the customers that get the first say, it's the gate keepers of the industry and hosting services who don't want to be associated with it. For anything that gets missed by them, there are others out there who take it upon themselves to report questionable projects, often so that they don't get seen by mass media causing another huge and ugly incident fraught with overreactions on all sides.
 

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Again, i get that they call him YHVH and that is the Hebrew god etc.... But until they come right out and start name dropping religions there wont be any problems. I think right now despite there being hints of catholic and Hebrew backdrops in the SMT games they wont really reach the attention of the masses yet. But mark my words the moment an SMT game name-drops or solidifies the background of its characters to be 100% rooted in any religions(and THAT includes adding the religions themselves into the games) THAT is the moment it will begin to have noticeable controversy and it will be interesting to see how much of an effect that could have on the final version of said game. That is at least my two cents on the matter.
Okay, but no that's not how it works. That's like saying that anyone could go out and have a character in their series called Muhammed who is blatantly the Muhammad of Muslim faith and being able to get away with it solely by never pointing out that its Muslim. Islamic Extremists would still without a doubt have a load of issues with it because it's still very evidently their prophet. In the same vein, the God YHWH who leads the Archangels of Judeo-Christian lore is the Hebrew God. YHWH isn't some widespread name, it's a name used solely by that particularly group of people. They're not so much "hints" as they are showing off what things are. I mean why the focal war is YHWH and his Archangels versus Lucifer, it's pretty obvious what religion it is.
 
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Abu_Senpai

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Okay, but no that's not how it works. That's like saying that anyone could go out and have a character in their series called Muhammed who is blatantly the Muhammad of Muslim faith and being able to get away with it solely by never pointing out that its Muslim. Islamic Extremists would still without a doubt have a load of issues with it because it's still very evidently their prophet. In the same vein, the God YHWH who leads the Archangels of Judeo-Christian lore is the Hebrew God. YHWH isn't some widespread name, it's a name used solely by that particularly group of people. They're not so much "hints" as they are showing off what things are. I mean why the focal war is YHWH and his Archangels versus Lucifer, it's pretty obvious what religion it is.

I disagree with you here to a certain extent. From my experience, people only tend to get "up in arms" about something when the name of a religion is name dropped directly OR if there are enough signs pointing towards a specific religion. Now extremism aside you said "it is pretty obvious what religion it is" which i am guessing means you likely now more about the Jewish faith than i do and thus were able to pick up on the "obvious signs" whereas i did not. Which if so is fair enough since i have only played SMT4/final/3/Soul-hackers and strange journey(i hear the older games like 1+2 had more references to religions). I am interested to see how far the series will go in regards to branching out into different lore's and religions.
 
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Burlsol

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And who, exactly, gets to decide if a given piece of content is extreme or hateful? What if it seems hateful to one person but perfectly acceptable to another?
Lawers, judges, acts of congress... ultimately. I'm sorry... Maybe you are a fan of child porn and don't understand what is fundamentally wrong with depicting any situation where an adult can force or coerce a child into sexual performances, with the intention of normalizing that behavior. While an extreme example, it is still an example of how society and law makers have made a consistent effort to suppress these sorts of notions as a means of diminishing the frequency of sexual abuse towards minors. And for the most part, it has worked (despite what the mass media might tell you). The same is true for hateful propaganda that does nothing but promote those beliefs. If you really need a comparison, look outside the US. Look at countries where child prostitution is legal. Look at countries where racist and classist beliefs are still alive and strong, to the point that killing a man of a given heritage within that country is not a crime. If such things are 'perfectly acceptable' to you... Kindly, swiftly, remove yourself from humanity as we would be much better off without you.
 
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Who cares if someone is offended? I get offended all the time by stupid PC SJW bullshit and people trying to limit my entertainment because someone, somewhere in the known universe might get a little upset over it. I get offended when people say there are/should be limits to freedom of speech. To be honest, I miss the days when developers could get away with stuff like this:
 
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Xiphiidae

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Equating any speech that offends someone to child pornography. Very intellectually honest of you. If you honestly can't tell the difference between speech and actions such as murder, child abuse, or even threats or inciting violence, then that's on you. I, however, will continue to stand up for the freedoms of speech and expression, and against people using "offence" as a way of silencing dissenting speech and ideas they don't like.

P.S. I found your comment very offensive and hateful :( I would like you to please delete it.
 
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That's like saying that anyone could go out and have a character in their series called Muhammed who is blatantly the Muhammad of Muslim faith and being able to get away with it solely by never pointing out that its Muslim.
And why would I not be able to create a game like that? Did Islam become the official religion of the world while I was sleeping or something? To me games like this are just like smash bros or something, because all the characters are in the same plane of existence.
 

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