The developer behind Gorebox, an online game linked to the recent school shooting incident in Tacloban, has been officially banned in the Philippines, according to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT).
DICT Secretary Henry Aguda said the move was a mutual decision between the government and the game’s developer.
Aguda said that after the developer failed to respond to the DICT’s call, it was the developer itself that agreed to have the game removed and blocked in the country.
While local authorities have not confirmed that Gorebox caused the attack in Tacloban, the shooter, who is a minor, was found to have regularly played the game.
The developer, which is based in Germany, also declined to participate in a Senate hearing in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said it is planning to ban Roblox after the suspect in another school shooting in Zamboanga was found to have regularly played the game.
The government had already warned Roblox earlier this year that it could be banned over reports of child safety issues. The developer subsequently cooperated with the government and committed to making the game safer.
Aguda said three of the five commitments have already been fulfilled: implementing default parental controls, monitoring violent tendencies in chats, and classifying games based on the player’s age.
The other two commitments have yet to be fulfilled. These include connecting Roblox to the National ID system for age verification and establishing an office in the Philippines.