UPDATE: Activision has denied that "MW2" was banned in Russia and claims that censoring the game for the Russian market was an internal decision. Their statement also asserted that "MW2" was only released for PC in Russia and not for consoles.
Original Story: The infamous "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" airport scene, which ignited controversy in the U.S. and infuriated at least one Australian attorney-general, now faces a full-on national ban. Russia has banned the game outright, forcing an edit and relaunch without the game's so-called "terrorist"-style mission.
The Russian government is expected to approve a censored version of "MW2" for re-release in about a month, according to Hellforge, who cites the Russian-language site GotPS3 for specific problems Russians have had with the title.
Russian critics have accused "MW2" of catering to an American audience at the expense of other countries -- namely Russia -- whose characters appear in terrorist roles. Gamers there will have access to the game most quickly through the edited downloadable Steam version if they don't want to reach outside the system and procure a North American or European copy online.
It should be noted that the Russian villains in the game don't appear overtly as stand-ins for all of Russia, and other countries such as Germany have in the past provided villain ethnicities for the "Call of Duty" games. Infinity Ward obviously wants to be able to sell their game in Russia, though, and that's going to require taking it back to the garage for some localized retooling.
Do you think Russia overreacted to the airport scene in "MW2"? Do you think Infinity Ward went too far? Share your reactions in the comment section below.
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