FILE - A player playing PUBG on mobile - Wikimedia Commons/Sparktour
CAIRO - 5 May 2020: The developers of the famous mobile game Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) apologized for a ‘‘blasphemous” scene that caused a controversy in the Arab world.
The developers posted on its official website that a new update was released on Wednesday to solve the problem.
“We removed the totem from the game [...] We apologize for this, and always remember that we are trying to create a playable environment for everyone,” the company tweeted.
The latest version of the mobile game called the subscribers for kneeling down or lying prostrate on the ground before an idol rather than God Almighty; the company was slammed by the Arabs in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.
Egypt’s al-Azhar International Center for Electronic Fatwa issued a warning against the game as it promotes violence and incites hatred among the children. Al-Azhar called the parents and media institutions to disseminate the public awareness of the danger of the game.
PUBG is not the first online game that sparked people’s anger; in April 2018,
“Blue Whale Challenge” online game requires players to go through 50 dangerous and soul-destroying tasks over the course of 50 days. The tasks begin with self-harm, leading up to the final challenge, which is suicide by hanging or jumping off a high building.
The Blue Whale claimed the life of former Egyptian MP Hamdy al-Fakharany’s son, who is believed to have been manipulated into committing suicide.
Additional reporting by Jehad El-Sayed
Comments
Leave a Comment