Pokemon GO, the viral video game phenomenon that has taken the U.S. and other markets around the world by storm, has been banned in Saudi Arabia, according to a report in the Evening Standard which cited the Arabic-language newspaper Almowaten.
Pokemon GO is a game available on smartphones that allows users to catch different characters with their phone and camera by walking around. Characters are placed in different locations on a map, and users that encounter them will see them on their smartphone cameras. The game has lead those playing it to interact socially when more than one person encounters a character on a map. Certain characters have higher values than others, and some of the high-value characters have caused mob scenes in U.S. cities since the game’s launch a few weeks ago.
According to the Evening Standard, three Saudi men were arrested at the Jeddah Airport playing the game and pointing their cameras at a restricted area.
Pokemon GO is available in 28 countries. The game’s popularity has slowed its expansion to new countries because of demands on the game’s hosting servers.
Pokemon GO.
Pokemon GO is not available in Saudi Arabia or any other GCC country, but many have found a way to download the app anyway, according to the Evening Standard.
The ban for Pokemon GO is not new. A fatwa issued 16 years ago outlawing the original version of the game was renewed, when clerics in 2001 decided the original game was a form of gambling.
The Evening Standard reports that Sheikh Saleh Al-Fozan, a member of the Council of Senior Scholars, “said the current version of the game was the same as the old one, which meant the fatwa would still apply.”
