The Last of Us Part 2 Seemingly Blocked In Middle Eastern Countries

Upcoming PS4 exclusive The Last of Us Part 2 has seemingly been banned in some Middle Eastern countries. Users on Reddit have reported that the game is currently unavailable to pre-order on the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia PS Store pages. In contrast, accessing the PS Store from places like the USA or UK at the moment allows you to view and pre-order The Last of Us Part 2. Many users have come to the conclusion that the game may have been banned and blocked for sale in these countries. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/13/the-last-of-us-part-ii-inside-the-story-video"] Interestingly, searching for The Last of Us Part 2 on both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia PS Stores provides avatar and theme results, but not the game itself. IGN has reached out to Sony for comment on the situation. The Middle East is known for having less tolerance to LGBT themes than Western territories, and some work has been banned, such as this year’s Pixar movie Onward, due to a line of dialogue referencing a gay relationship. The Last of Us Part 2’s protagonist, Ellie, is gay, which may potentially have caused the apparent sale block. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-last-of-us-part-2-new-screenshots&captions=true"] The Last of Us Part 2 has already been rated by the ESRB. with the advisory rating warning of nudity and sexual content. However, considering Cyberpunk 2077 is still available to pre-order in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the suggestion is that those specific elements - which are definitely in Cyberpunk 2077 - are not the issue. For more, be sure to check out the upcoming The Last of Us Part 2 State of Play livestream, how you won’t see everything in a single playthrough, and how leaks like the recent The Last of Us one affects game developers. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

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