Thailand Military Bans Tropico 5 Game

Tropico 5, developed by Haemimont Games and published by Kalypso Media, has been on the market for a few months now, released around the time the military junta took control of Thailand.

This month, the publisher looked to branch into Thailand through the New Era publishing studio, but was quickly met with resistance from the Ministry of Culture. Film and video game censorship are part of this branch of government and have been more active since the takeover.

Previously, Tropico 3 and 4 have both sold just fine in the Thailand region, but the new expansion claims to have some parts that might affect peace and order in the region, leading to the national ban on the video game.

This is not the first time a video game has been banned in a certain country where the government might look like the “bad guys”, China and Russia have previously banned Call of Duty games, which depict the nation as enemies of peace and democracy.

The problem is Tropico is not about being a bad guy, the options inside the building and island simulation allow the player to choose what ruler he wants to be, either a tyrant or a democrat.

Kalypso Media and New Era will not appeal the ruling by the government, meaning people in Thailand are all out of luck when it comes to getting Tropico 5. We are sure there will be some backdoor websites for people desperate to play the game, however.

Tropico 5 expands on the previous successes in the franchise, offering a fresh new look, more options in democracy or dictatorship, more buildings to grow the island, and a vast new wealth of options and information for the player to work with as leader.

[Image via incgamers]