Iran Censorship Could Be Good For Piracy

Iran has banned Battlefield 3 being played there. This is not a surprise, really. We are, after all, talking about Iran. I don’t mean that in a derogatory matter. It is just matter of fact because the game contains controversial content that is set in Iran’s capital city. Obviously, Iran won’t be too happy about the game circulating there.

There are actually 5,000 young Iranians who signed a petition against the game. The material is considered harmful. However, Electronic Arts manage to make a more surprising response. It is actually happy about the suppression, which is not the usual reaction from a publisher. It thinks that it could stop piracy of its game in Iran. Iran is pretty serious about the ban. Its Combatant Clergy Association is scouring the streets for signs of the video game being sold by vendors. According to an EA representative, “In that Battlefield 3 is not available for purchase in Iran, we can only hope the ban will help prevent pirated copies reaching consumers there.” Well, EA also has a point because Iranian stores actually sell pirated software in the open. With the game being banned in the country, Iranian gamers can only get hold of the first person shooter by using illegal means.

If the Combatant Clergy Association is pretty efficient then nobody will even be able to enjoy the game. So, what EA was gunning for really is that if nobody pays for the game in the country then nobody should be able to enjoy it. The ban, in effect, actually favors the publisher because there is a slight decrease in the chances of piracy.

Source: gamebandits.com