Just a few days back, Rockstar marked the grand opening of The Diamond Casino and Resort, for the players of GTA Online. This Diamon Casino is a sprawling entertainment and luxury living complex, located in Vinewood and is open to all citizens of Sothern San Andreas. While there has...
Just a few days back, Rockstar marked the grand opening of The Diamond Casino and Resort, for the players of GTA Online. This Diamon Casino is a sprawling entertainment and luxury living complex, located in Vinewood and is open to all citizens of Sothern San Andreas. While there has been a wave of excitement among fans over this Diamond Casino, playable through GTA Online, the real news is that it has been banned from playing over 50 countries.
We are no strange to the fact that the link between gambling and gaming has stirred quite a lot of heat among various communities, in recent years. Especially when we put into context the debates of lootboxes this gets even worse. Since the initial debate over lootboxes has not yet reached a conclusion, various countries who have an issue with gambling, have banned this practice in games as well.
Countries like Belgium have seemingly banned GTA Online Diamond Casino over the fact that it is a pure form of gambling integrated into video games, played by young generations. All of this came to light when a list was shared over at Reddit listing those countries which seem to be having issues accessing it. Among many Reddit users, one has added that the account was not able to purchase virtual chips for the casino because of their region.
This also includes various European countries as well as China and North Korea. Not only that, those places where gambling is illegal, the issue seems to be prevalent. What can we make of this, is that it would be too early to presume what and whatnot? However, convincing as it may seem, we have not had any official word from Rockstar, so it could be as simple as a technical issue. That said, even that technical issue could somehow be related to gambling and legality.
GTA Online Diamond Casino is banned Countries list
Afghanistan
Algeria
American Samoa
Argentina
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bhutan
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Belarus
Brunei
Cambodia – gambling is illegal for natives, but land-based gambling is legal for foreign visitors
Cayman Islands – land-based gambling is illegal, and online local casinos are banned, whereas foreign slots are not
China
Cuba
Cyprus – online sports betting ok with a license
Czech Republic – majority of online gambling is illegal (except online lottery and online sports betting)
Ecuador
Greece – some online gambling is illegal
Iceland – online casino gambling and online poker illegal – offline gambling is legal
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg – illegal online other than sports betting and online lottery
Maldives
Mali – only legal for foreign visitors
Mauritania
Malta – gambling services need a license from the government, this is up to R* to apply for
Malaysia
North Korea
Oman
Pakistan
Paraguay
Peru
Poland – everything but online sports betting is illegal
Portugal – gambling services need a license from the government, this is up to R* to apply for
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
South Africa – online gambling is illegal
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Syria
Taiwan
Thailand – everything but Horse Racing and the Government Lotto
Tuvalu
United Arab Emirates
Vietnam
Venezuela
What is really curious is the fact that Rockstar has always been the hallmark of brining new and controversial things into the games and then facing some hard criticism and lash back. However, in the end, they always have been successful one way or the other.
Be that as it may, while GTA Online Diamond Casino is a new addition which might prolonge the GTA 5 era but it seems like fans are growing impatient over the production, let alone the release of the next GTA video game, aka GTA 6. Apparently, apart from some rumors and manipulated leaks, Rockstar has not shed any light over it.
What are your thoughts over gambling in video games getting banned? What is your take over it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
I have a lot of love for Movies especially science fiction however nothing beats the fun of sitting behind a screen and playing some hard core FPS games. Apart from them i am a major lover of Assassins Creed titles especially Brotherhood, The Witcher and God Of War. Huge fan of animation director Hayo Mayazaki.