The worldwide acclaimed Call of Duty: Black Ops II and (the lesser acknowledged) Medal of Honor: Warfighter are banned in Pakistan for showing the country in a critically wrong way. Both first-person shooters are based in Pakistan, which is included among other countries.
A statement issued by The Audio Cassette Traders and Manufacturers Association (APCDACTM) has detailed that why it took the serious decision coupled with a warning to the retailers and shopkeepers selling these video games. The statement released by them reads:
“The Association has always boycotted these types of films and games. These (games) have been developed against the country’s national unity and sanctity.
The games (“Medal of Honor: Warfighter” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops II”) have been developed against Pakistan, and the association has completely banned their sale.
Shopkeepers are warned and will be responsible for the consequences if found purchasing or selling these games.”
Saleem Memon, the President of this association has said that these games show the country in a ‘very poor light’ and that they have been getting a lot of complaints from gamers ever since the game went on sale at the end of 2012. The games portray the country as the hub of all terrorist activity in the world.
The Medal of Honor: Warfighter, the more controversial of the two even begins “at an undisclosed ship dock in Karachi”. The game also showcases the player as fighting with the terrorists in the streets of the metropolitan city and even escaping the ISI, the renowned intelligence agency of the country.
If that wasn’t enough, Medal of Honor: Warfighter also shows the player as fighting alongside the Navy Team SEAL 6 to kill the ‘Al-Qaeda leader’. Doesn’t that sound familiar to you? Isn’t the story a bit too closer to the real life incidents that occurred on the night of 1st May 2011?
Although ban of any video game is still quite a rare act in the country, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 and Medal of Honor: Warfighter aren’t the only video games set in Pakistan. Games such as Tom Clancy and others have already been set in Pakistan but NONE has portrayed the country that badly.
Considering the fact that both of these series of games are quite well-known among gamers, the lasting damage to the country’s perception worldwide will be far from calculable. And just to give you an idea of that, 7.5 million copies of the game were sold in November of 2012 alone making the game one of the best-sellers of 2012.
And its not only terrorists that are making the headlines here. “The problem is that there are things that are against Pakistan”, Saleem Memon says “and they have included criticism of our army”.
“It’s not the first time a game has been banned or boycotted here,” says Moeen Ali, the owner of one of Islamabad’s biggest game stores, “’Assassin’s Creed’ was banned in Pakistan because Muslims found content offensive and I stopped selling it.” He even says that both of the games have been selling incredibly well and have been a blast.
Meanwhile, the story is already making rounds around the media and even in the media of the West where it is even garnering criticism. What is left behind though, is the fact that our country has been one of the worst hit by US’ War against Terror. So along with the billions of dollars that our country has lost as the result of this war, respect is also something that we have lost during that time, not to mention the countless number of innocent lives which were lost too.
Source(s): Fox News, Slashgear, Yahoo! Games
Good Decision
ab yad aya hai ??? game ko aye hoye 2 mahiney ho gaye hain …..
Torrents Zindabad……. :)
Pakistan is still working to filter Youtube. How come is it possible to filter Torrents to make sure that they are not providing materials that are banned in the country?
bhai torrent kyun band karwa raha hai yaar??? koi halka hath rakh :P
Encouraging decision from the The Audio Cassette Traders and Manufacturers Association (APCDACTM)…at least someone’s making the right decisions :)
So funny. A game makes Pakistan look bad, but Raja Rental, finding Osama in Abbottabad, etc etc don’t make us look bad? What kind of nonsense is this?
I never understand why people are worried about how Pakistan looks to the outside world. Try to get a visa to go somewhere and you will know: NOTHING we do is actually improving our situation & reputation because it is already so bad.
you are one of stupid person who damaging its country image
Oh but I think he’s one of the very few sanest people here on ProPakistani.
^ Count me in with him as well. I could care less what people think of me. I am perfectly capable of thinking for myself. I dont need others to dictate what’s good and bad for me.
By attacking me and not what I wrote, you lose. Do you not understand “ad hominem”?
Tell me, how did I damage Pakistan’s image? When ordinary people were rioting and protesting in the streets during Draw Muhammad day, Burn Quran day etc etc, I was trying to do da’wah online.
Which image is better, mine or protesters?
When your famiy members wil be shown negatively in a game then u will say tht ban this game, srf philosphia marnay aati hain tum logon ko bus batein
karwa llo tum logon se.
Then you better go outside and blow some shit up to make your point. That’s what people like you are capable of doing anyways :)
Not only sticks and stones, but apparently words and animated graphics will also break your bones. Try drinking proper milk :):):)
Agree !!
Shahid Saleem, you are awesome. You should start blogging as Pakistan need people like you to spread the word of sanity. I am more interested in reading your comments rather than the blog post :) Keep the great work going!
doesn’t matter to me, I’ve finished both games! :D
These ignorant retards don’t even know that by banning the sales of the games nationwide, they’re actually helping these companies combat piracy, which is pretty much rampant across the country.
I for one couldn’t care less about how a video game portrays my country. Germans have been pretty much portrayed as the bad guys to death in earlier games. I didn’t see them even once throwing a violent fit or whatever (but then, they’re too busy building their nation up to the next level, when pretty much every other european nation is building up debt).
incorrect acronym, APCDACTM stands for All Pakistan CD, DVD, Audio Cassette Traders and Manufacturers Association.
You wrote incomplete
A better acronym is IDIOTS.
Why pay these idiots the money, when you can download the games yourself at home.
However, there’s now a growing trend of buying games legit, thanks to the outstanding sales that are held by Steam. I know atleast 100+ people, who game regularly on both BF3 & COD :)
Good move. Those racist companies always kill Islamic militants, forces, Russian, Chinese, Arabs in their games.
And whenever they want they block their games in countries like Iran.
And danda nation need danda, waiting for Pakistan to improve content block filters.
For how long our Awam will criticise others? Change yourselves first, image of our country will be changed automatically and they will show real image of us and our country then. Those mother-f**ker foreigners have just showed what the hell is happening in Pakistan right now!
Isn’t that true our country is listed among failed states? Isn’ that true that we’ve corruption and all other issues. Don’t these thing harm image of our country?
Banning something is not the solution!
They Have a Association for Audio Cassette ??? and BTW who buys the Games … lol
APCDACTM… really?? Who came up with that acronym? This acronym needs an acronym!
I dont understand. How does banning a game in Pakistan (which is already being sold as pirated, FYI), help in improving our image globally? It’s a direct equivalent of burying ur head in the sand. Morons, really!
Really? Most people use Torrents, Steam, Origin, Xbox Live or PSN to get their games. I don’t think anyone ever goes to buy them from retail.
Even when I have to, I import them from Hong Kong or USA.
Our country has really messed up policies. Idiots.
Banning these games have made me like our great army and I finally have started to believe Usama wasn’t in Pakistan. What non sense.
And propakistani, I don’t expect anything but support for censorship from you.
i dought if there are any serious buyers in Pakistan of these games.Every one using torrents and exctracting keys and using them.BTW its good decision.Appreciated
Its Democracy
i don’t know for sure but both of the companies don’t have official stores in Pakistan so it won’t hurt them because in Pakistan games DVDs and software are pirated or every one is downloading for free from torrents, so whats the point of all this ban and i am sure it will still be available in Pakistan in local DVD shops, original game will cost you 70 to 100 US $ and i can get it here in Pakistan for 100 Rupees or 1 $ so who will buy the genuine stuff here and one last thing COD black ops earned the company 1 billion $ worldwide why would they care about a third world country like Pakistan that what they think about the game…
Yes, exactly. It’s a stupid ban. Will banning the game in Pakistan affect the sales in the rest of the world? No. Also because Pakistan is a relatively small market for LEGALLY PURCHASED games, the ban will also not cause game companies to avoid making such games. If we are not the consumers, they don’t care.
To my friends making fun of this news: Seems criticizing ourselves is become our national habit and we now do this without thinking for a moment. It’s true that neither such bans could result revenue loss to producers nor piracy can be stopped 100%. Such statements are more subject to register your protest in international politics i.e. on one hand Pakistan is a front-line ally in war against terror but on other hand we are being negatively portrayed. Why can’t Pakistani Army or ISI be shown as allied forces in such games or movies?? I believe being Pakistanis we should support such protest.
Just look at how Foxnews covered this news:
“…These games are an effort to malign the minds of youth against Pakistan…The security official views these games as American attempts to prepare the minds of Pakistanis to accept reports of Pakistan as a failed state, a place that is harboring terrorists, to justify any future action where youth would accept the killing of Pakistanis…”
Just to get this straight. Traders of Pakistan have agreed to stop selling ‘Pirated’ copies of those games because they think these games make Pakistan look bad. Doesn’t the fact that we buy and sell illegal copies of games openly in our market already make us look bad?
You’re concerned about your country’s image when you’re selling illegal, stolen copies of games?
Can these people be ANY more stupid?
block games …block mobile phones…block anything like looser that you can not fix ! One should focus on how to improve our self rather then blocking the content. How stupid when rest of the world still able to play the same game ..i wonder from whom are we trying to save our ass by blocking in Pakistan only !!!