Russia is an extremely closed country, especially for ideas that we consider more progressive. This is the case with the topic “gay marriage”, so that the country is still one of the last among the great powers that prohibits unions between people of the same sex. Therefore, there will be no launch of the game the Sims 4 in Russia due to restrictions imposed by the government.
This is because the new expansion of the game presents narratives allied to the idea of diversity, including the representation of gay marriage. As such, the game would automatically be subject to censorship under Russian federal laws prohibiting “LGBT+ propaganda”.
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Understand the law against “Gay Propaganda”
Quite unlike most countries in the West, where the wave of diversity has already achieved certain achievements, Russia maintains a contrary position. With the great conservatism of the country, any type of “gay propaganda” is censored, which can generate a series of interpretations.
In general, the law deals with the idea of protecting children from content that would be responsible for promoting a rejection of family and traditional values. So much so that the country's leader, Vladimir Putin, said in 2020 that Russia will not legalize gay marriage, and that everyone will be "daddy and mommy".
And there is more, as there are complaints that even health professionals, such as psychologists, cannot guide or talk about diversity with children. Thus, the country is constantly the scene of protests by the LGBT+ community.
The Sims case
To be released in Russia, The Sims game would need to go through a series of adaptations and would have to remove a number of censored items. With that, the game could even be released, but for an older audience, which could harm product sales.
Thus, the decision among the game's creators was that there would be no release in Russia, as they would not have the freedom to tell the story as desired. This decision can be read in an open letter available on the official website of Electronic Arts, the game's creator.