The website for upcoming video game Spec Ops: The Line has been blocked in the UAE due to its controversial trailer, according to Abu Dhabi daily The National.
The trailer depicts Dubai after a major disaster has happened in the Emirate, where familiar landmarks have been heavily damaged by powerful sandstorms.
The website has been blocked by the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and has fallen under the ‘Prohibited Content Categories of the UAE’s Internet Access Management Policy,’ The National said.
‘The authority said, “Spec Ops: The Line video game has not been approved by the concerned authorities (National Media Council) in the UAE. Consequently the website of the game has been blocked from access in the UAE,"'according to the report.
The director of media at the council, Juma Obaid Alleem, had earlier told The National they had only seen a summary of the game and could not make a decision until they view it completely.
“We'll discuss this with the distributor, Red Entertainment Distribution, and see if it's OK or not OK for the UAE. We don't refuse anything until we see it,” he said.
With a release date of June 26, the game has yet to be banned from sale within the UAE. A similar decision was taken with recently released Max Payne 3, an action game that contained heavy violence.
Video game producer Greg Kasavin told joystiq.com that the setting was a ‘fantastic location from an architectural standpoint’ and that ‘the enemies … in the fictional Dubai would not have any clear religious or political beliefs associated with them.’