Sims 4, the life-simulator game is slated to release in fall 2014. While gamers all across the world are eagerly waiting for its release, Russia drops a bomb on the gamers within the borders of the country by declaring it as 18+, giving birth to uproar of dissatisfaction amongst thousands. The action is apparently taken because Sims 4 will portray same-sex relationships, which goes against their laws.
The Sims series by Maxis is believed to be one of the most played games in the world, which allows players to create virtual images of themselves or any other images that they like. They are given the opportunity to create houses, create traits and lives for their sims, earn money and pursue careers, just like anyone in real life would.
The latest addition to the series is Sims 4, scheduled to release in fall 2014. This game is packed with even more advanced features, and players now have a distinct feature of identifying their relationship interests, which includes same-sex relationship or being gay. A Kremlin-appointed body have indicated the game as ‘harmful’ to the youth of the nation, and have therefore banned people aged less than 18 from playing this highly-enjoyable, life-simulator game.
In recent times, Russia has taken a strict positioning against gay laws, and they are ever-careful so that their children are not exposed to subjects related to same-sex relationship, even if that comes through a medium of entertainment. Russia’s decision was announced through the official Twitter account of ‘Sims Russia’. The tweet, translated through Bing, said the following:
The outrage created because of this decision is mostly for the reason that Sims 3 also had same-sex relationship in it to some extent, but was released in 2009 with a rating that enabled kids with ages twelve and above to play the game. However, in 2010, Russia passed their much debated 436-FZ law, that identified same-sex relationship as harmful, and they banned Sims 4 by abiding by that law and under the tag ‘On Protecting Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development’.
At the same time, Sims 4 is being released in Britain with 12+ rating, enraging Russian players even more. In Russia, Sims 4 is being passed with a rating that is applicable to games with violence inappropriate to age group below 18, such as Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty. Compared to them, Sims 4 does not have any violence at all, but is being held back only because of the anti-gay law of Russia.
Meanwhile, the Sims team at Electronic Arts has had its say on this matter, and has avowedly denied bringing any changes to the game for the sake of settling the matter. Their spokesperson Deborah Coster, in an interview, said, “We have no plans to alter The Sims 4. One of the key tenets of The Sims is that it is up to the player to decide how to play the game. We provide the simulation sandbox and player choice and creativity does the rest.”
Ignoring the pleas and disappointment of thousands of Russian gamers, Russia stands to back its decision; and it appears that unfortunately they have to make do with the older version of Sims 4 for now.
Source: Yahoo News
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