News - Battlefield 4 banned in China in wake of EA's China Rising DLC

[HEXUS]

Accusations of cultural invasion were raised by the Chinese government.

Read more.

[OilSheikh]

Saw this coming.

Why did they have a 13 year ban on console gaming ?

[DemonHighwayman]

Although I don't believe this should have been banned, it does appear to be yet more western propaganda against the rest of the world and could sour eastern/western relations among ordinary citizens. Maybe that is the view China has taken.

[Cog]

BAHAHAHAHA. EA really is hopeless now.

[ali73]

Read about this yesterday on a different site, and came across the whole Medal of Honor/Taliban controversy while getting some background on this story. (I am not a gamer of late so not really kept up to date with the BF series)

If I read that right the games company changed online version of the game so that the Taliban were renamed to 'opposing force' for fear of US kids playing the game on-line as the Taliban killing US soldiers (because that does not go down well apparently) or maybe keep the mindset that the US are always the good guys of the world and every one else is bad (which seems to be at odds with a recent poll that say, out of a survey 1 in 4 people think America are a threat to world peace..I can't find the link as I heard it on the radio, but I think it was 67,000 people from many countries across the globe)

No surprising then that another country also feels the same and that killing its own 'persons' in a game is unacceptable.

[robkewley]

Free publicity as payback for all those illegal downloads

[DemonHighwayman]

the US are always the good guys of the world and every one else is bad (which seems to be at odds with a recent poll that say, out of a survey 1 in 4 people think America are a threat to world peace..I can't find the link as I heard it on the radio, but I think it was 67,000 people from many countries across the globe)

No surprising then that another country also feels the same and that killing its own 'persons' in a game is unacceptable.

I fully agree, the U.S are a complete threat to world peace, that and anyone else that doesn't fit in with there economic framework. What's sad is the countries that just follow them such as the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Germany among many others.

[crossy]

Although I don't believe this should have been banned, it does appear to be yet more western propaganda against the rest of the world and could sour eastern/western relations among ordinary citizens. Maybe that is the view China has taken.

Or (and I think more likely) someone in the Chinese government took umbrage at the idea that they'd need the US's help to deal with Chang. Remember that in the game he's a revolutionary trying to overthrow the legitimate government of the PRC. In which case I wonder if the censor would still object if there was the option to play as some of the "friendly" Chinese characters?

Oh, and given the already long list of reasons the "Chinese in the street" has to distrust the west, (e.g. support for free Tibet), I doubt that some mere video game will feature highly in the thoughts of many.

And as to the accusation of the US attacking the local culture - congratulations, says I, welcome to the modern world! The US might not be the "policeman of the world" these days, but it's "cultural imperialism" is alive and kicking - heck, had to correct one of my kids this morning who was claiming that pesto sauce is made with "bay-zel" not "baa-zil" (deliberate misspellings so you can appreciate the pronunciation used), and then there's "soda", "fries", "chips" (cheese and onion variety - not those with fish), etc

Why did they have a 13 year ban on console gaming ?

My question too - presumably because of the difficulty of policing the online component - PSN, XBL, etc.

[HalloweenJack]

BF4 wasn't even sold in china anyway....

[zdn1042]

Wow, they're really strict about everything. Movies, then video games.

[rootminus1]

If I read that right the games company changed online version of the game so that the Taliban were renamed to 'opposing force' for fear of US kids playing the game on-line as the Taliban killing US soldiers (because that does not go down well apparently) or maybe keep the mindset that the US are always the good guys of the world and every one else is bad (which seems to be at odds with a recent poll that say, out of a survey 1 in 4 people think America are a threat to world peace.

I would happily wait for the day a AAA title is released where you play as a dissident European taking a stand against the US's wanton propaganda machine.. but even as I say it, that may have too many pitfalls. Better make sure they're not Germans shooting at the 'Muuurickans, people might take offence :/

[crossy]

I would happily wait for the day a AAA title is released where you play as a dissident European taking a stand against the US's wanton propaganda machine.. but even as I say it, that may have too many pitfalls. Better make sure they're not Germans shooting at the 'Muuurickans, people might take offence :/

You could always do something like Escape to LA - world v's repressive, looney right-wing US government. Or even Barb Wire - there's another film with a fascist US. I'm sure that there's others.

[Bakashinji]

I actually found this hilarous, i mean its a game.. just because it uses china as a focus they spat their dummy out. They have done far worse than the game implies to its own countrymen and women for hundreds of years. Are they scared that most of the world will be suprised to know this when we already do.. or was it the secret plot to destroy the USA that really made them cry for their mothers..
Either way DICE has made good on its promise to the BF4 fans across the world.
Politics is politics.. gaming is gaming, if things keep going this way.
Gaming and free speech will be next and who knows where it will end..
WTF happened to common sense ?