Saudi Arabia Bans ‘Final Fantasy 16’ — Guess Why

After months of rumors and speculations that Final Fantasy 16 would include a queer character, their inclusion has very likely been confirmed by — wait for it — Saudi Arabia’s Public Authority for Media.

How did they do that? By announcing that the game would be banned in the country “due to the publisher’s unwillingness to make the necessary modifications.”

Late last night, Hattan Tawili, who works for Saudi Arabia’s general commission for Audio Visual Media and digital game association, shared a statement on the ban. “An ‘important’ game is on its way to being banned because its developer has refused to modify content not considered appropriate in Saudi Arabia,” he wrote.

What does that mean, exactly? We don’t yet know for sure, but this is the first mainline Final Fantasy game to receive an “M for Mature” rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, a U.S. entity similar to that which rates motion pictures for release. The ESRB has also provided some details behind the M rating, sharing it was due to: blood and gore, partial nudity, sexual themes, strong language, and violence. The game will reportedly deal with more adult themes than previous installments of the hit series, and that in and of itself may have been enough for the ban.

However, all signs — and fan speculation — are pointing to FF16 being banned in Saudi Arabia for the inclusion of an LGBTQ+ character, as this move follows a pattern of past games like The Last of Us Part 2 being banned in some middle eastern countries because of its queer inclusivity.