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Are you looking forward to playing Mortal Kombat but need to know which countries Banned Mortal Kombat 1 to check if you will be able to access it? Let’s get into, where the newest addition to the MK franchise is currently set to be banned and why this game has been controversial.
Games such as Bully, God of War, Dead Island, Heavy Rain, Mass Effect, and apparently the Sims franchise have been seen as controversial all over the world for various reasons. The Mortal Kombat franchise, however, is often a game that makes the top of the list of banned games globally.
Which Countries Banned Mortal Kombat 1?
Mortal Kombat 1 has been banned in Japan, South Korea, and mainland China due to the countries’ strict laws on violence and gore in media we have found this through various sources including the South Korean Game Rating and Administration Committee. The fighting game franchise is known for its graphic depictions of violence, so it is not surprising that these countries have banned the latest entry. This is not the first time that Mortal Kombat has been banned in these countries. The previous game, Multiplayer Mortal Kombat 11, was also banned for the same reason.
History of Mortal Kombat and the countries it’s banned in.
The Mortal Kombat fighting game series, created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, has been controversial since its inception in 1992 due to its graphic and bloody violence. The series’ Fatalities, which allow players to kill or maim their opponents in gruesome ways, have been particularly criticized.
In 1993, Mortal Kombat’s inclusion of violent content, hidden behind codes, raised concerns, especially among advocates like Mary Whitehouse. The game’s contribution to the 1993 US Senate hearings on video game violence resulted in the creation of the ESRB. While Nintendo initially resisted allowing gore in Mortal Kombat, Sega released the game with an MA-13 rating, leading to significant commercial success.
The violence of Mortal Kombat led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in 1994, which assigns ratings to video games based on their content. The series has also been censored or banned in several countries, including Germany, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Mainland China, and Ukraine.
A more recent look into Mortal Kombat Controversies
The controversy surrounding Mortal Kombat has not stopped the series from becoming one of the most popular and successful fighting game franchises of all time. The latest game in the series, Mortal Kombat 11, was released in 2019 and has been a critical and commercial success.
However, as time passed, the controversy surrounding Mortal Kombat diminished, with newer, more graphic games like Grand Theft Auto taking centre stage. Mortal Kombat remained significant for breaking taboos about game content.
Mortal Kombat II faced similar controversy due to its extreme violence, resulting in bans and censorship in various countries, including Germany and Japan. Subsequent games in the series saw different levels of censorship depending on the region.
In recent years, Mortal Kombat continued to face bans and restrictions in some countries, including Australia, South Korea, and Germany. These actions were based on concerns about violence and content that did not comply with local laws.
Where has Mortal Kombat been banned Historically?
The Mortal Kombat series has historically been one of the most controversial games released worldwide, With the series spanning decades and in turn, spanning various states of worldwide political stability and social order the tolerance for mature content and violence has changed drastically.
In the UK alone the tolerance for mature gaming content for more successful video games franchises such as Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Counter-Strike which are both a playground of destruction and mercenaries but are enjoyed by adolescents across the United Kingdom with parents letting them play these games at their own discretion for the safety of children.
These are some of the most common countries in all versions of Mortal Kombat that have been banned:
- 2011 Release:
- Germany (partial ban, no exposure allowed)
- South Korea
- Australia
- Mortal Kombat11
- Ukraine
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Entire Series
- Uzbekistan
- Malaysia
What are the most banned games in the world?
Beyond the Mortal Kombat series, there are a whole host of games that have been banned for a variety of reasons. These are some of the most famous games and why they have been banned in their various countries:
| Release Date | Title | Platform | Reasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984–2009 | Punch-Out!! | Arcades, NES, SNES, Wii · Nintendo, Next Level Games (2009 version) | Numerous instances of ethnic stereotyping, mainly of the opponent boxers that the player fights. |
| 1992–present | Mortal Kombat | Arcade, PC, Consoles, Mobile devices, Stadia, Nintendo Switch · Midway (later Warner Bros. Interactive) | Blood, violence and gore. The first fighter to introduce “Fatalities” to finish off opponents. When released for home console formats, it became the first “big budget” game to raise the issue of violence in the medium. Possible catalyst to the implementation of a rating system such as ESRB. |
| 1996–present | Pokémon | Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Wii, WiiWare, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Nintendo Switch · Nintendo, Game Freak | Jynx, one of the series’ titular creatures, came under heavy backlash following a 2000 article by Carole Boston Weatherford that accused its design of perpetrating blackface imagery. The resulting controversy forced a drastic redesign of Jynx, changing its skin from black to purple and shrinking its eyes and lips. |
| 1998 | Night Trap | Sega CD · Digital Pictures | Sexual content and violence. The game was banned in Germany and Australia and was the subject of a congressional hearing in the United States. |
| 2000 | Postal | PC, PlayStation, Dreamcast · Running With Scissors | Extreme violence and gore. The game was banned in several countries, including Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. |
| 2001 | Grand Theft Auto III | PlayStation 2, Xbox · Rockstar North | Extreme violence and crime. The game was banned in several countries, including Australia and New Zealand. |
| 2004 | Manhunt | PlayStation 2, Xbox · Rockstar Games | Extreme violence and torture. The game was banned in several countries, including Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. |
| 2007 | BioShock | PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 · 2K Games | Objectionable content, including violence, drug use, and sexual themes. The game was banned in some countries, including China. |
| 2012 | Hatred | PC · Destructive Creations | Extreme violence and gore. The game was banned in several countries, including Germany, Australia, and New Zealand. |
| 2014 | Grand Theft Auto V | PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC · Rockstar North | Extreme violence and crime. The game was banned in some countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines. |
| 2015 | Until Dawn | PlayStation 4 · Supermassive Games | Sexual content and violence. The game was banned in some countries, including Germany. |
| 2018 | Red Dead Redemption 2 | PlayStation 4, Xbox One · Rockstar Games | Extreme violence and gore. The game was banned in some countries, including China. |
We have yet to see if MK1 will be banned in places like North America, Canada, Brazil, or Chile but for now, it seems that even Australian gamers and others across the world will have access to this classic fighter game.
If you are looking forward to playing MK1, check out our article on how to preload it before the release and also If MK1 is on Unreal Engine 5.