Thailand's military junta has banned Tropico 5 from the country, saying that some of the game's content closely mirrors real-world events, according to a Kalypso media press release.

Loading

Loading

On May 22, soldiers in Thailand overthrew the civilian government in a coup d'etat and established the new military junta. Tropico 5 allows players to assume the role of a president who can advocate for democracy, or create a military dictatorship that controls the media and rules with an iron fist. Thailand's Film and Video Censorship office blocked Tropico 5's release because the game's storyline "might affect peace and order in the country.""Actually it's a good game with positive reviews," New Era Thailand marketing manager Nonglak Sahavattanapong told the Associated Press . "We've had licenses to distribute Tropico 3 and 4 before, but in the fifth installment, the story line has developed further and there might be some part of it that's not appropriate in the current situation."Thailand's Ministry of Culture, which the Film and Video Censorship office is part of, didn't specify what content was threatening to the country's current political climate. Kalypso Media said it has been working hard to gain release approval in the country, but efforts were in vain."It seems that the Board of Film and Video Censors deem some of the content too controversial for their consumers," Stefan Marcinek, global managing director of Kalypso, said. "This does sound like it could have come from one of El Presidente’s own edicts from the game.”This isn't the first thing the ministry has banned since the coups –– the junta has been criticized for infringing on free speech on several occasions. It blurs out cigarettes on TV and censors scenes deemed critical to the new government. Sahavattanapong said New Era will not appeal the decision to ban Tropico 5.Stay tuned to IGN for further news regarding the ban.

Mike Mahardy is a freelance writer for IGN and various other outlets. He also rants about Wes Anderson and Kurt Vonnegut on Twitter