10 Most Controversial Games

This is a list of video games described explicitly as "controversial" in secondary sources. Some of the video games on this list have been banned or censored.

10 Pokemon
Apart from its allusions to cockfighting, animal abuse, and dogfighting; safety risks, materialism and racial concerns Pokémon has been criticized by some Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Christian concerns over Pokémon have primarily addressed perceived occult and violent themes as well as the concept of “Pokémon evolution” (which some relate to the theory of evolution), which is said to go against the Biblical creation account in Genesis, which the majority of Japanese, not adhering to Christianity, do not believe in. The Vatican, however, has countered that the Pokémon trading card game and video games are “full of inventive imagination” and have no “harmful moral side effects”.

In the United Kingdom, the “Christian Power Cards” game was introduced in 1999 by David Tate who stated, “Some people aren’t happy with Pokémon and want an alternative, others just want Christian games.” The game was similar to the Pokémon TCG but used Biblical figures.


09 Doom
Doom is a landmark 1993 first-person shooter video game by id Software. It is widely recognized for having popularized the first person shooter genre, pioneering immersive 3D graphics, networked multiplayer gaming, and support for customized additions and modifications.

Doom was and remains notorious for its high levels of violence, gore, and satanic imagery, which have generated much controversy from a broad range of groups. Yahoo! Games has it listed as one of the top ten most controversial games of all time.

It has been criticized numerous times by religious organizations for its diabolic undertones and was dubbed a "mass murder simulator" by critic and Killology Research Group founder David Grossman. Doom prompted fears that the emerging virtual reality technology could be used to simulate extremely realistic killing.

The game again sparked controversy throughout a period of school shootings in the United States when it was found that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who committed the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, were avid players of the game.


08 Six Days in Fallujah
Six Days in Fallujah is a third-person shooter video game described by the developer, Atomic Games, as a tactical shooter. The game is originally published by Konami. It is the first game to focus directly on Operation Iraqi Freedom, mainly the Second Battle of Fallujah or Operation Phantom Fury. The game follows a squad of U.S. Marines from 3rd Battalion 1st Marines over the span of six days. The premise of the game has been the subject of controversy; with questions raised as to its appropriateness, especially given the fact that the true event the game is based upon was so recent.

On April 28, 2009, a spokesman confirmed to the Associated Press that Konami was no longer publishing the game.


07 Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat is 1992 a fighting video game developed and published by Midway for arcades. In 1993, home versions were released by Acclaim Entertainment. It is the first title in the Mortal Kombat series. Upon release, Mortal Kombat became one of the most popular arcade games of all time. It was subsequently ported to home video game consoles and became a best-selling game. Mortal Kombat also became one of the most controversial video games, for its depiction of gore and violence using realistic, digitized graphics.

Mortal Kombat was awarded Most Controversial Game of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly. The same publication also awarded the character of Goro the 1993 Hottest Gaming Hunk title. Mortal Kombat for the SNES was rated by IGN the 8th worst Arcade to console conversion stating, "So out went the decapitations and spine-rips, everyone sweated buckets instead of bled, and Kano's heart-rip move was turned into a fatal chest-hair pluck."

Mortal Kombat was one of many violent video games that came into prominence between 1992–1993, generating controversy among parents and public officials.

Hearings on video game violence and the corruption of society, headed by Senator Joseph Lieberman and Herb Kohl were held in late 1992 to 1993. The result of the hearings was that the entertainment software industry was given one year to form a working rating system or the federal government would intervene and create its own system. Eventually, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was conceived, requiring all video games to be rated and for these ratings to be placed on the games' packaging.


06 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Microsoft Windows on November 10, 2009. The game received critical acclaim from professional reviewers and, in terms of revenue, was the biggest launch in history across all forms of entertainment. The game has been surrounded in controversy since its release due to its violent depiction of a terrorist attack on a Russian airport. It has also come under fire by the PC community for its lack of dedicated servers and other features present in previous Call of Duty games, and from the Xbox 360 community for disabling the “party chat” system during some multiplayer matches. The game was also released with a major glitch affecting its multiplayer, multiple accounts of players hacking the multiplayer on all consoles, as well as an in-game Easter egg in which is deemed homophobic to some. Infinity Ward has also received criticism for producing a viral video that uses the word “fag”.

05 ManHunt 2
Manhunt 2 is an action/adventure video game developed by Rockstar Games and the sequel to 2003's Manhunt. The game was released in North America for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii on October 29, 2007.

Originally scheduled for release in July, it was suspended by Take-Two due to a rating rejection in the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland and an AO rating in the United States. Rockstar eventually submitted a modified version of the game, which was re-rated with an M by the ESRB and allowed for an October 29 release date in North America.

Violence (allowed player to take the role of a serial killer). Gained significant controversy after it was alleged that the game inspired a teenager to commit a murder. Banned in Australia.


04 Grand Theft Auto series
“Grand Theft Auto” (commonly abbreviated “GTA”) is a video game series created in the UK by Dave Jones, then later by brothers Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke and primarily developed by Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design) and published by Rockstar Games.

The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure, driving, and occasional role-playing, stealth, parodying of American current events, and racing elements and has gained controversy for its sexual themes, rape, violence (against civilians and law enforcment officers) and criminal behavior. The series focuses around many different protagonists who attempt to rise through the ranks of the criminal underworld, although their motives for doing so vary in each game. The antagonists are commonly characters who have betrayed the protagonist or their organisation, or who has the most impact impeding their progress.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was originally rated “Mature” in the US, but was re-rated “Adults Only” after controversy surrounding a fanmade “hot coffee mod” which unlocked a hidden sex scene left out of the game’s final version. Consequently San Andreas was briefly re-rated “Adults Only” by the ESRB, but had a “Mature” rating reinstated after Rockstar Games removed this scene from the game’s code. Grand Theft Auto IV was referred to as a “terrorist simulator” due to it containing an exact replica of New York City.


03 Carmageddon
Carmageddon is the first of a series of graphically violent vehicular combat video games produced by Stainless Games, published by Interplay and SCi. It was inspired by the 1975 cult classic movie Death Race 2000.

In Carmageddon, the player races a vehicle against a number of other computer controlled competitors in various settings, including city, mine and industrial areas. The player has a certain amount of time to complete each race, but more time may be gained by collecting bonuses, damaging the competitors' cars or by running over pedestrians. Races are completed by either completing the course as one would a normal racing game, "wasting" (wrecking) all other race cars, or killing all pedestrians on the level.

The game was notable for its realistic and ground-breaking physics and for its in-game movie making features. It was also one of the earliest examples of sandbox 3D driving games, and may have influenced other later games including Driver and the Grand Theft Auto series.

In many countries (including Germany and, for a short time, the UK), the first release of the game was censored. They contained zombies with green blood or robots with black oil instead of people, as running over the non-human figures was considered more acceptable by their respective ratings boards. In the UK, SCi wanted to gain publicity for the game by submitting it to the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to get an 18 rating, even though this was not necessary as the game contained no video footage. This backfired when the BBFC refused to certify the game unless all blood and gore was removed. After 10 months of appeal, the BBFC certified the original version.

In some countries, the game was banned completely, including Brazil. In Portugal and Australia the game was passed completely uncut with an +18 and MA15+ rating, respectively.


02 Postal 2
Postal 2 (styled as Postal²) is a first-person shooter video game by Running with Scissors, and it is the sequel to the 1997 game Postal. Both are intentionally highly controversial due to high levels of violence and stereotyping. Unlike its predecessor, Postal 2 is played completely in first-person based on the Unreal Graphics Engine. Due to its graphic nature the game has been banned in Australia and several other countries.

Critics state that the game clearly urges people playing the game to indulge in homicidal behavior, given that Dude is often attacked by ludicrous hate groups who despise everything from books to video games. Additionally, there are long queues when Dude visits the bank, the library, Church, and elsewhere. The people of Paradise are exceptionally rude and spit insults at Dude if he bumps into them, and furthermore weapons ranging from machine guns to rocket launchers are left lying around for him to collect.

Several ambient features like advertisement signs, shop names, and interiors are loaded with some dark humor, thus exposing the decadent nature of Paradise. The game also involves some obvious inside jokes. Dude actually works for Running with Scissors, the game's developers, with its offices being the scene of a protest by a group opposed to violent computer games.

Unlike the GTA games, Postal 2's content was sufficiently over the edge to preclude widespread distribution, and many North American retailers would not stock it.


01 Muslim Massacre: The Game of Modern Religious Genocide
Muslim Massacre: The Game of Modern Religious Genocide is a controversial 2008 amateur computer game by Something Awful forum member Eric Vaughn under the screen name “Sigvatr.” It is a top-down shoot ‘em up video game. The aim of the game is to kill all Muslims that appear on the screen. The developer’s website is down, however the game can still be downloaded via torrent.

Muslim Massacre’s gameplay has been likened to Robotron: 2084 and Berzerk as the game’s directional controls are operated separately to the direction of fire, allowing the player to move in one direction and fire in another, making techniques such as circle strafing possible.

Players control an American hero armed with a pistol who has been parachuted into the Middle East. The player can also pick up special weapons such as a shotgun, a machinegun, hand grenades and a rocket laucher, supplied by an overflying plane. To progress to the game’s bosses: Osama Bin Laden, Mohammad and Allah, the player must kill all the Muslims who appear on-screen during each stage, each of which lasts between 60 and 90 seconds. Some Muslims are dressed as civilians while others are depicted as terrorists wearing a suicide vest.

On September 11 Mohammed Shafiq, the chief executive of the Ramadhan Foundation, stated that “Encouraging children and young people in a game to kill Muslims is unacceptable, tasteless and deeply offensive”.

On 13 September the game’s creator took down the game’s download site with a statement of apology on his personal website, claiming his original intention in releasing the game, to “mock the foreign policy of the United States and the commonly held belief in the United States that Muslims are a hostile people to be held with suspicion”, had backfired and not been understood by the wider public, and that its release “did not achieve its intended effect and instead only caused hurt to hospitable, innocent people”. However it later emerged that the apology was indeed fake.

A game called Suicide Bomber does exist, but does not identify any race or religion.