A ban has been called for battle royale giant Fortnite by an Indonesian minister after a sacred building was created in-game and then believed to be made destructible.
As reported by CNN, Indonesian tourism and creative economy minister Sandiaga Uno is pursuing a plan to ban the Epic Games developed title over the destructible user-generated creation of a sacred Muslim site known as the Kaaba. Located in Saudi Arabia at the Masjid al-Haram mosque, the Kaaba is seen as one of the holiest Muslim sites in the world.
Sandiaga said he had heard that the Kaaba could be destroyed in order to gain weapons, however, Epic Games responded by issuing a statement that players in fact cannot destroy the landmark within Fortnite
Indonesian minister of communication and information Johnny G. Plate has reportedly acknowledged the fact that the in-game Kaaba was not created by the company Epic, but by an individual and will be working with the National Police to find who created it.
“Disrespectful behaviour”
“The game Fortnite is directly against lofty values, especially religious ones,” said Sandiaga in a statement addressing the matter.
“This can trigger disrespectful behaviour between religious communities and encourage acts of violence. Therefore, I instruct the team to review and immediately issue a ban. We also want to warn some game developers to be careful.”
Epic posted a response to the situation: “We would like to emphasise that our team respects all religions and we work closely with the in-game content makers of our players in order to provide a safe gaming experience for all of our players.”
CNN believes that Indonesia minister of communication and information Johnny G. Plate has recognised that the creation was made by a Fortnite player and not by Epic Games. The National Police has been contacted to search for the creator of the offending content, though Sandiga still looks to pursue a ban on Fortnite.
Last week Epic Games held its biggest tournament in Fortnite to date, with a 15-year-old boy from Quebec taking home $75,000 in winnings.
