Children of Morta dev receives court summon (from the government of Iran) over the game not complying with Islamic rules

[Amir]

Children of Morta developer is summoned to the court over the complaint that the game includes dancing, lack of hijab, lack of praising for God, use of magic for fighting demons and also a burial not complying with Islamic laws.

https://twitter.com/amirhfassihi/status/1213503384667508736

Link to deleted tweet: http://archive.is/Lt0dC

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Court of what country? Any English-language article? I think we're missing context here

 

[ILikeFeet]

that can't be good

 

[ahbs22]

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK 😐

 

[spineduke]

Dev is Iranian I think

 

[ahbs22]

Court of what country? Any English-language article? I think we're missing context here

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IRAN !

 

[Hella]

Any reason why CoM is specifically being called? I can't read the text, but that describes a lot of games.

Dev is Iranian I think

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...Oh.

Edit: Omg they're the Garshasp devs.

 

[Abuguet]

...the game includes dancing, lack of hijab, lack of praising for God, use of magic for fighting demons and also a burial not complying with Islamic laws.

https://twitter.com/amirhfassihi/status/1213503384667508736

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Sounds like 90 percent of all videogames to me. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Lego Killer Moth]

Sounds like 90 percent of all videogames to me. 🤷‍♂️

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90 percent of all videogames aren't developed in Iran

 

[Blade Wolf]

Am I allowed the criticize the the court, the country (government) and the Islamic rules in general? Is that ok here?

Also you've got to be kidding me. Someone actually played the whole thing and instead of being proud that it's a good Iranian game they decided to take devs to the court because it's not Islamic enough? Who the fuck cares? Are the rules even that important?

 

[Instro]

That sucks, I didn't realize they were an Iranian dev.

 

[ScoobsJoestar]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the likely result for the game's creator? Should we be concerned about his safety or...?

EDIT: To clarify, is this something that is likely to result in a fine, pulling the game, jail time or would it be result in something life threatening? I don't know how punishment escalates or not in this court or how severe the accused crimes are in that justice system.

 

[ahbs22]

you can see this kind of bullshit only in Iran and other 3rd world Islamic countries!

 

[Hektor]

Edit: Omg they're the Garshasp devs.

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Say whaaaaaaaaat????

Goddamn, good on them for putting out such a well received game.

Hope whatever this situation implies works out for them.

 

[MrHealthy]

Court of what country? Any English-language article? I think we're missing context here

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The tweet mentions the "Moral Security Police" so likely from the devs home country of Iran.

 

[spineduke]

you can see this kind of bullshit only in Iran and other 3rd world Islamic countries!

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You can see this kind of bullshit from any overly controlling theocracy.

 

[Damn Silly]

Without any further context at least, that seems rather fucked up.

 

[CheapJi]

this sucks so much.
The games great tho.

 

[ahbs22]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the likely result for the game's creator? Should we be concerned about his safety or...?

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yes, we should! 😑
that's the point bro.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

this is very fucked up, but it's nothing new. people get called up to court here for smaller things, sadly
this really sucks for the devs :(

 

[Gold Arsene]

I try not to crap on cultures I'm not from to much but that's gonna be a big ol "FUCK YOU" from me.

Don't know the dev but they shouldn't have to deal with this. Hope they get through this all right.

 

[ahbs22]

this is very fucked up, but it's nothing new. people get called up to court here for smaller things, sadly
this really sucks for the devs :(

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where are you from?

 

[Deleted member 7572]

Without any further context at least, that seems rather fucked up.

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No further context required, this is the same country that arrested women last year that protested wearing a hijab by refusing to wear one in public.

Iran's governing body sucks ass.

 

[ScoobsJoestar]

yes, we should! 😑
that's the point bro.

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I don't know whether something like this is likely to result in a fine, mild jail time or something much more dire because I have no frame of reference for religious offense based justice systems and how severe his supposed infractions are. I thought that was clear from my question, but I'll go edit it.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

where are you from?

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iran, which is where this game was developed.

 

[Dark Ninja]

Um hope they will be safe.

 

[spineduke]

I don't know whether something like this is likely to result in a fine, mild jail time or something much more dire because I have no frame of reference for religious offense based justice systems and how severe his supposed infractions are. I thought that was clear from my question, but I'll go edit it.

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bigger question is if they will force them to retract the game from sale

 

[skeezx]

pretty nuts considering how innocuous the game is. like if it was a shooter with a bunch of stylized western tropes i'd be like "oh yeah, that's disappointing but not surprising"

 

[Deleted member 10737]

bigger question is if they will force them to retract the game from sale

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i'm not sure they can, the game isn't even officially published here. the game is published by a publisher outside iran.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Any chance they flee the country or something?

 

[Deleted member 10737]

I try not to crap on cultures I'm not from to much but that's gonna be a big ol "FUCK YOU" from me.

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you shouldn't tiptoe around it. this is fucked up and needs to be criticized.

 

[ahbs22]

i'm not sure they can, the game isn't even officially published here. the game is published by a publisher outside iran.

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well, actually it's officially published in Iran tho.

http://hayoola.com/#!/games/children-of-morta

 

[CheapJi]

i'm not sure they can, the game isn't even officially published here. the game is published by a publisher outside iran.

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the game is published in iran. its up on hayoola.

https://hayoola.com/#!/games/children-of-morta

edit: darn it

 

[Deleted member 10737]

well, actually it's officially published in Iran tho.

http://hayoola.com/#!/games/children-of-morta

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the game is published in iran. its up on hayoola.

https://hayoola.com/#!/games/children-of-morta

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oh, didn't know that. well they can stop the sales of the game from there for sure. but outside of iran where the game is published by 11 bit studios, they're not gonna be able to do anything about it.

 

[fspm]

Welcome to real world.
This wouldn't be a problem if authorities didn't know who the dev is which they know how?

 

[Akelisrain]

I have been meaning to purchase this game. Maybe I should before it gets pulled or something. I wonder if it is available on GOG.

 

[ahbs22]

Any chance they flee the country or something?

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I think as long as they are pursued by the law, they're not allowed to leave the country.
if they try to do so, they will be arrested by the police!

 

[Rei no Otaku]

I hope this doesn't affect them too badly. They just released a roadmap for more upcoming content including a paid expansion. It's also my favorite roguelike. If you haven't played it then check it out.

 

[Damn Silly]

No further context required, this is the same country that arrested women last year that protested wearing a hijab by refusing to wear one in public.

Iran's governing body sucks ass.

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Fair point. Mostly just me covering my own ignorance about the area to be honest.

 

[CheapJi]

oh, didn't know that. well they can stop the sales of the game from there for sure. but outside of iran where the game is published by 11 bit studios, they're not gonna be able to do anything about it.

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yeah they prolly cant do shit about it being published elsewhere.
biggest problem is that they had a new game in works and i wonder what will happen to that.
hope they dont get in too much trouble.

 

[Nostremitus]

Is the developer currently in Iran? If not can they apply for refugee status to escape capital punishment for blasphemy under Iranian law?

 

[Deleted member 10737]

based on what i'm seeing, looks they they had some pos fanatic who's taking them to court over this, but i don't see anything that would get them into major trouble. nothing majorly anti-islam or against the iranian government.
i'm optimistic that the court won't take it too seriously and they'll get away with a slap on the wrist. still very fucked up that they have to go to court over this in the first place and the case wasn't immediately thrown out.

 

[Fadewise]

I try not to crap on cultures I'm not from to much but that's gonna be a big ol "FUCK YOU" from me.

Don't know the dev but they shouldn't have to deal with this. Hope they get through this all right.

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Cultures that support theocracy can get fucked.

 

[Mirage]

This sucks I hope they make it out of this alright, not really sure what this means for them but it doesn't sound good.

 

[astroturfing]

give them asylum asap...

jesus, the idiocy.

 

[AbsoluteZero0K]

Does anyone know what the penalties in Iran are for these alleged violations or is this just a thread where folks get to exercise their Orientalist worldviews?

 

[ahbs22]

based on what I'm seeing, looks they had some pos fanatic who's taking them to court over this, but i don't see anything that would get them into major trouble. nothing majorly anti-Islam or against the Iranian government.
I'm optimistic that the court won't take it too seriously and they'll get away with a slap on the wrist.

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but the fact that this is an ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT can't be ignored!
they currently have another game in development and most likely they will be forced to inject some Iran goverment-ish or anti-American context into the game or sensor the game!

 

[Pai Pai Master]

Fuck the Iranian government jfc

 

[Corleth the Fey]

I wish the devs the best. Children of Morta is an excellent game. Roguelike, but no ever really dies and it doesn't feel like the punishment it does to me in other games of this type. Great Diablo - esque gameplay. Most importantly it has a big heart. The trials and tribulations of the Bergson family are the absolute highlight for me. Go get it.

 

[TibimusPrime]

Company and personnel is based in the US, Texas. However, most of the dev's are born / from Iran, and of course the game is published in Iran as well.

 

[mutantmagnet]

well, actually it's officially published in Iran tho.

http://hayoola.com/#!/games/children-of-morta

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That's... odd.

If they self published in Iran then I could see mistakes being made here because there is a big reason why developers try to hook up with publishers to avoid legal penalties.

If they negotiated with another company to publish on their behalf then that publisher fucked up to a large degree. They should've known better because it is their job to protect the developers from scenarios like this.

 

[Master Alucard]

Company and personnel is based in the US, Texas. However, most of the dev's are born / from Iran, and of course the game is published in Iran as well.

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so they can just ignore it?