Legal Niches

Forecast Calls for No Heavy Rain in UAE

By pete_gallagher

The Quantic Dream-developed PlayStation 3 title Heavy Rain, which releases stateside today, will not see the light of day in the United Arab Emirates.

The Khaleej Times reports that the UAE's National Media Council, in what sounds like a late reaction, stopped the release of the game. The paper speculated that a scene from the game in which a character is forced to perform a topless dance at gunpoint was most likely among the reasons for the game's ban.

A Sony PR rep confirmed the game's ban, noting that Heavy Rain 'has been conceived from the earliest stages as a genuinely adult experience. This means that it deals with strong content including blood and nudity, but treats this content in amature and sensitive manner.'

Problem solving UAE residents that wish to play the game will probably not have too hard of a time finding the title according to one gamer, who said, 'There's a flourishing gray market out there and the title will be available there, if it already isn't.'

Thanks Andrew and Gellymatos!

Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on February 23, 2010 (boomark / email).