Video Game Censorship in Oman
How an anonymous man deals with regulating video game access within an entire country.
During the early 2000’s in the GCC, the evolution from bootleg Atari and Sakhr consoles to the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 era meant access to several kinds of rendered and realized video games. The jump from pixel games such as Circus Charlie and Super Mario the previous 80’s generation had grown up with had been adopted by newer rendition of games like Crash Bandicoot and Metal Gear Solid 2.
As a child, I would look forward to each weekend where my mom would take my siblings and I to one of several ‘Electronic Stores’ in Muscat. Our vendor of choice happened to be a very kind Pakistani man in Sabco Centre who we had sadly lost contact with after the introduction of the PlayStation 3 console and the fall of bootleg games. Due to the PlayStation’s CD affinity, it was easy to burn copies of games on disks, so these stores were able to sell a disk for around one or two Omani Rials (~$3 USD). These storefronts housed copies upon copies of pirated PlayStation 2 games in CD books that my brothers and I would flip through with excitement each weekend. These stores had a competitive marketplace grip on children during that time, and a lot of playground conversations would revolve around where to get the coolest and newest bootleg copy of a modded Grand Theft Auto CD.
Back then, a lot of regulations have been bypassed due to the bootleg spread of games in Oman. These disks were sold in plain CDs where you were lucky to get an image on the disk, or in very rare cases, an actual case. This meant that a lot of games have forgone age ratings and content warnings. Children were allowed to get any game they had an interest in, and it was dependent on the store clerk’s opinion on whether or not to disclose that information. Due to this ignorance, a lot of my generation had played the Grand Theft Auto games way before we should have. This also meant that games such as Paparazzi for the PS2 were sold to me as a Photography game and not a fetish one.
Age rating systems in the world most notably go by the ESRB or PEGI ratings. The Electronic Software Rating Board in the United States is a self regulatory body that independently applies ratings within the industry. This means that games aren’t governed by an authoritative government entity in the US. In Europe, the Pan European Game Information is the age rating system enforced on video game content that aids consumers when buying video games. Different to the ESRB system in the US, PEGI is enforced by law, where you would have to be the age the game is marketed to to be able to purchase. Although, as this is only applied to the retail entities selling these games, it does not stop adults of age from buying mature rated content for a child.
In today’s video game hunt in Oman, a lot of brick and mortar stores have been licensed to sell video game consoles and paraphernalia. Stores like Geekay, GamerZone, Elite Games, and GameHub have dotted around the country, offering one-hour delivery services and access to pre-ordered legitimate games in the region.
With this shift from bootleg to originals, the increase in price and the validated legitimacy of video games as a form of entertainment has introduced entities such as Injaaz, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Information in Oman. Injaaz is an ‘Electronic Service Platform’ in charge of licensing and publication rights for different forms of media and services in country. Injaaz has an Electronic Games Licensing Service that allows different stores to distribute and sell ‘electronic games’ within the Sultanate of Oman. This service takes around 5 working days and costs 1 Omani Rial (~$3 USD) for ‘all types of games’.
The General Directorate of Publications and Artistic Works has a department of Audio and Visual works that deal with the regulations of Music, Film, and Video Games in the Sultanate. In this department is one man in charge of the censorship of video games in Oman. This man, who has asked to remain anonymous, goes to work 5 days a week, sometimes including weekends, to play through entire games and rate them accordingly to the restrictions that apply in the Sultanate. Their department within the Ministry of Information is scattered with consoles from the PlayStation 1, all through to the Playstation 5, and one Xbox. They do not have a Nintendo Switch Console, as Nintendo games have an affinity of being family friendly to a certain extent, excluding the eStore. Admittedly only playing games on the PlayStation 4 and 5, this man is currently playing Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Lost Judgement.
His favorite genre of game is Action/Adventure, and he had enjoyed playing The Last of Us Part II even though he has had to add the title to the banned games list in the country. The Sultanate of Oman is part of the Gulf Cooperation Council of Arab States in the Middle East alongside Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. These predominantly Muslim countries adhere to the values and culture that come with that distinction.
When dealing with whether or not a game is added to the banned section, he lists the following content as reasons to ban games: Excessive Nudity, LGBTQ+ content, Extreme Violence, Hate Speech Directed to Religious or Political Figures, Gambling, and ‘Indecent Behavior’ that may corrupt the culture within the country.
Following the list of banned games, due to the globalization of video games, a lot of titles have adopted localized versions that adhere to specific cultures and languages. As seen on the list, banned games such as The Witcher 3, and any games pertaining the localized versions, are allowed to be sold to people over the ages of 16 and 18 when appropriate.
The issue with these banned games, and having one department regulating the selling and distribution of media means that a lot of games fall through the cracks, or are able to be bought online through specific console eShops, Steam, or Amazon. The government entity cannot be responsible of all the games distributed in country, which means a consumer such as myself could buy physical copies of games mentioned on the banned list. He had also stated that he has received multiple calls to ban the popular mobile game, PUBG.
When talking about this call against the game application, he voiced his concern that parents do not have a hold of parental guidance through games as much as they should. He understands that consumers should be aware of what they are getting into when purchasing or downloading a game, and that the governmental bodies have their own authority on what they would want to enforce. He stressed that these age restrictions are there for a reason, and it is up to the consumer to make that choice.
In my own personal life, my 10 year old sister has a PlayStation account adhered to her age, which means that she cannot search, download or play games that are above her age range. This system of parental guidance and censorship is helpful when enforced on children, but as an adult, having banned games creates a conflict of interest between the sellers in the marketplace, and the government entity supplying the licensing for these games.
A lot of illegitimate and legitimate storefronts would still break release dates and sell games deemed inappropriate due to the popularity and hype behind those titles. The video game scene in Oman has expanded in country, as evident by the myriad of home services and in-person stores that exist in each city within the Sultanate, most promising a one-hour delivery service straight to your home.
When banning games, we lose the right to experience different cultures, views, opinions, and art. Although relatively young in authority and action, having this job since 2011, the anonymous source has played through as many games as he can, and understands the complexities that come with the shift to digital only content.
A big thank you to Rawiya Al Aamri who has helped with information regarding the MoI!
