As the majority of the gaming public knows by now, if sales figures are any indication, Modern Warfare 2 is not a game that surrounds Russians with sweetness and light. In fact, our post-communist friends are portrayed rather badly, especially in a level called “No Russian” which involves a nasty airport shooting.
Strangely, Russia has become concerned about their image of late, both in the world and at home. As a consequence, someone took offense to Modern Warfare 2’s portrayal of Russians, and so banned the game. Copies of the game were pulled off store shelves, and Activision has been working with the game’s studio to put together a censored version to smooth over the objectionable content.
You can read more about the story here.
Of course, a banned game quickly becomes a pirated game, and from what I hear, MW2 didn’t need any new encouragement on that front. I can really only see this move as a gift to the pirate and black market community, what with making a hugely popular game available only from their stained hands. In truth, I wonder if such bans and censoring are effective enough to justify the power they give to the pirates, but then, I also realize the people who lay down this kind of law don’t care; they only want to exercise control over something that offends them.
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