The Chinese Ministry of Culture banned websites from featuring online mafia-styled games, saying such virtual entertainment is a threat to Chinese culture and a bad influence on the nation's youth.
The government organization said that websites face "severe punishment" if they run, publish, or link to online games with a mafia theme in violation of the ban, the Xinhua news service
reported Tuesday.
Players of mafia games interact with other members of the online community as members of families or gangs. The Ministry of Culture said such interactions "encourage people to deceive, loot and kill, and glorify gangster life. They are a bad influence on youngsters."
Some of the games that reportedly went offline following the ban were
Godfather,
Jianghu ("Gangster Community"), and the ferociously-titled
Guhuozai ("young and dangerous guys").
In the west, mafia- and gang-based web games have met some success, particularly
Mob Wars and
Mafia Wars, which are playable through social networking sites such as Facebook.
Gamers' attraction to the gangster life can also be seen in the success of console games such as
Grand Theft Auto,
Mafia,
The Godfather, and
Scarface.
One of the many disappointed Chinese online mafia game fans called the government's move "irresponsible."
