Clash of Clans “Clashes” With Iranian Government Due to Perceived Encouragement of Tribal Conflict
Iran's government committee has recently restricted the access of Supercell's hit mobile app Clash of Clans, Tuesday. The action is based on s report the government committee received from psychologists, stating that the game may trigger violent actions, as well as tribal conflicts.
BBC adds that according to Iran's deputy attorney general Dr. Abdolsamad Khoramabadi, a "vast majority" of the committee agreed on the motion to limit the said app. Aside from the perceived encouragement of violence, government officials are also concerned on its effect on the family, especially for the teenage population that is mostly hooked to the game.
Many players had difficulty accessing the mobile app after the decision was made, which, according to a recent study, amounts to 64% of the total population that accesses mobile games. There are suggestions circulating that the game will instead be given an age limit instead of a total ban of the game, but as of the moment no such distinction has been made. Fan sites in Iran, however, suggest several workarounds to get over the restriction.
This is not the first game to experience a hold from the Iranian government. According to Gamasutra, "Pokémon Go", Niantic's augmented reality game, got banned on the grounds of concerns regarding security, as the game uses the real-world map for tracking and capturing Pokémon.
Released for the iOS and Android in 2012 and 2013 respectively, "Clash of Clans" is a Massively-Multiplayer Online strategy game that allows players to make their own towns and build armies. Players can attack other players alone, or form clans to attack other clans. Resources like gold, elixir and dark elixir are rewarded to players for successfully attacking others, along with points that help increase or decrease the player's rankings.
Gems are also an important part of the game, which could be used for purchasing additional builders, to boosts in income or defense, and can be earned by doing tasks of through microtransactions. The game has received mostly positive reviews, with negative reviews directed to the microtransactions.
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