Middle Eastern players are fearing a ban on Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 in the region as pre-orders have been removed from storefronts in multiple countries. Players from countries like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait have reported that they are no longer able to pre-order the game, and those who did manage to pre-order prior to this development have received refunds.
Could Spider-Man 2 be delayed in the Middle East?
The issue was first highlighted by Twitter user MSM Access (thanks, Exputer) and confirmed by a number of players on Reddit and Twitter both.
Over on Reddit, players pointed out that PlayStation’s local websites now display a “Release date to be determined” message on Spider-Man 2’s page. We checked the websites and can confirm that this information is accurate at the time of this writing.
It’s currently unclear why Spider-Man 2 pre-orders have been removed, but given the region’s history, many assume it’s because of LGBTQ content. Recently, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 16 was banned in the Middle East for the same reason.
Nevertheless, some fans are holding out hope that Sony will be able to settle the issue with local authorities and Spider-Man 2 will eventually land in the region.
Neither Sony nor Insomniac Games have commented on the matter yet.
