The Philippines has blocked access to GoreBox through Google Play and Steam after officials raised child safety concerns tied to violent game content and a deadly school shooting in Tacloban City.
Good to know
The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center said Google granted the Philippine government request to restrict GoreBox nationwide. Steam has also complied with the temporary ban, closing off the main PC route to the game.
The block does more than remove the download page. CICC said users in the Philippines can no longer download GoreBox, while some installed copies no longer respond beyond the loading screen. The game online component has also been blocked.
Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Henry Aguda welcomed the platform action after a meeting with DICT, CICC, Google Philippines, and Google LLC.
“With this restriction, we are assured that minors will no longer be able to access such a violent game,” Aguda said.
Officials asked Google to keep access restricted until the game can stop minors from easily reaching it. GoreBox, developed by F2Games, carries an R18 plus rating and has more than 10 million Google Play downloads globally.
CICC announced the temporary GoreBox ban last week after a police investigation into the San Jose National High School shooting in Tacloban City. Three students died and 20 others were injured. Investigators said one of the two teenage suspects was an avid player of GoreBox.
The agency has framed the restriction as a precaution while authorities review online risks for minors. CICC said it will keep working with platforms and government agencies to improve child safety online and limit access to content officials view as harmful to young users.
The case also raises a wider platform question for gaming stores. Google Play and Steam already use age ratings, but Philippine officials want stronger controls when adult rated violent content can still reach minors. For now, GoreBox remains unavailable in the Philippines through both stores.