Battlefield 3 is reportedly banned in Iran, which is hardly surprising because it is Iran. What is surprising, however, is that Electronic Arts thinks the suppression of its product may be a good thing, because it could help stop piracy.
Iran’s Combatant Clergy Association is ensuring that street vendors don’t sell the game, due to controversial content set in the country’s capital city. Over 5,000 young Iranians have reportedly signed a petition against it, claiming that the material is harmful. That’s usually bad news for any publisher, but EA is seeing the lighter side.
“In that Battlefield 3 is not available for purchase in Iran, we can only hope the ban will help prevent pirated copies reaching consumers there,” a representative told Industry Gamers.
Considering Iranian stores openly sell pirated software, EA is actually using a little logic here. Only a little, however, since now the only way Battlefield 3 can be obtained in Iran is through illegal means. I mean, piracy doesn’t really come into it when you can’t make money either way.
Basically, since EA can’t make any money anyway, it can only hope nobody in Iran enjoys the game at all. Seems a bit spiteful, really.
