Due to the sexual orientation of a character in The Last of Us Part II, some players around the world will not be able to play the video game. Players in the Middle East could be affected by this "censorship". Players in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates found that the game was not pre-orderable on PlayStation Store. PlayStation customer service justifies this block by saying that it is not because of them. Indeed, it seems that the local authorities have blocked the game in this part of the world. The game does not appear in PlayStation Store Middle East. However, its promotion still continues. Therefore, we are sure that PlayStation is not responsible for this blocking.
A character is a problem?
The reason why the game is banned in any part of the world would be because of the sexual orientation of a protagonist of the game. Indeed, it would be a young woman, Ellie, who is homosexual. This did not please the authorities of these countries who do not agree with this orientation. In addition, they do not agree with certain values advocated in the game. For example, the game includes nudity and sexual nature or violence. It should be noted that the sexual orientation of the heroine has been known since the Left Behind DLC of The Last of Us. Since it is not possible to impose censorship without distorting the gaming experience, the judicial authorities would have taken the decision to completely ban the sale of The Last of Us Part II. Finally, we can now wonder if the game will be released on the original date scheduled for June 19. Players from the Middle East can, however, attempt to pre-order the game through the purchase of prepaid cards. They can also go through PlayStation Store in other countries.
