If you’re an avid gamer in India and are simply itching to get your hands on Dragon Age: Inquisition, you’ll be shocked to know that you won’t be able to do so since EA has decided to abandon sales of the game in the country. The reason for this being that the publisher wanted to stay away from breaching ‘local content laws.’
There’s no mention of what the issue at hand actually is, but fingers are being pointed towards the fact that the game contains scenes of same-sex romance. Dragon Age: Inquisition has been removed from Origin, EA’s digital distribution platform for PC, and the title’s official distributor for consoles in India, Milestone Interactive has made it clear that its versions for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One too won’t be sold in the country.
While EA has kept things vague in its statement, a representative of Milestone has told NDTV Gadgets that the game’s ‘homosexual sex scenes’ are to be blamed for the withdrawal. It’s hence quite strange that EA’s other titles like Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2 and all three Mass Effect games still continue to be sold in India despite them containing same-sex romance.
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As for the refunds, the publisher has already begun the process of issuing them to those who have pre-ordered the role-playing title. Online shopping portals like Flipkart and Amazon too have stopped selling the game in the nation, and are expected to offer the refunds soon.
Apart from India, Dragon Age: Inquisition has also been banned in Pakistan and Bangladesh citing ‘local content laws.’ If this continues to become a new practice then gamers in these countries are sure to face a lot of disappointment in the future as well.