Tekken Tag 2 to remove islamic calligraphy from Saudi Arabia stage

Category: News Wire Published on Sunday, 28 October 2012 11:49 Written by scaR Hits: 267

Tekken Tag Tournament 2's producer Katsuhiro Harada was asked in a tweet why was there islamic calligraphy adorning the floor of the Saudi Arabian stage Modern Oasis. He responded quickly to the concerned gamer noting that they could not read the text and that the texture would be replaced.

Essesentially it was placed there for aesthetics rather than being disrespectful.

Call of Duty recently had the same problem with it's Favelva map. In both cases the use of islamic text was not the main issue. The problem was where it was placed. Religious text particularly the Arabic word for God, "Allah" is considered sacred and should not be placed on the floor or inside of bathrooms.

This brings up a clever arguement of developers pandering to the islamic gaming community. However it is simply not realistic that these culturally significant items would be placed this way at these locations. It is a matter of respect rather than censorship. If something as insignificant to game development as a stock texture is preventing part of your audience from enjoying your product, then why not replace it?

Remember not all Arabic is sacred, just islamic text. For example the neon sign below says, "Sex, drugs and rock and roll".