Red Dead Redemption Banned?

According to a retailer at Dubai Mall, Rockstar’s soon-to-be-releasing old west themed action-adventure, Red Dead Redemption, has been banned in the UAE. Red Dead Redemption, developed by Rockstar San Diego, is all set to release on May 21st, 2010 on the PS3 and Xbox 360 in Europe and PAL regions.

There has been no official statement from either Rockstar or Take-Two Interactive, however, when we contacted Red Entertainment, the local distributor for Rockstar Games, we received the usual PR reliable: “no comment”.

Red Dead Redemption will join the ranks of Heavy Rain, God of War 3 and Darksiders of games that have been banned this year by UAE’s National Media Council. Recently, EA had decided not to release Dante’s Inferno in the UAE which had a similar theme to Darksiders, keeping in mind the sensitivities of the region and the possibility of a ban by the NMC.

The ban comes as a total surprise. From the trailers, screenshots and other media released, the game does not seem to be touching on any religious toes nor has there been any sign of nudity to be featured in the game. So why the ban? Does the UAE government have anything against the Old West? Or does a Rockstar game get an auto-ban without any proper review?