Images and videos circulating on social media indicate that copies of Insomniac Games' and Sony's upcoming title, Marvel's Wolverine, have been censored in the Middle East. The alterations reportedly remove all references to Mystique's marriage to a character named Tyger, a relationship that is same-sex.
This censorship is understood to be a measure to comply with laws in several Middle Eastern countries where same-sex relationships are illegal. Evidence shared online includes images of a wedding day scene featuring Mystique and Tyger that has been visually obscured, and a censored letter that references their relationship. One post on X directly questioned why Mystique's lesbian relationship was censored in Lebanon.
A video on the subreddit r/PlayWolverine purportedly showcases several of these altered scenes. A user noted that dialogue referring to Mystique's "wife" has been removed, even though the background audio continues to play. This suggests a deliberate edit rather than a technical glitch.
This is not the first instance of Insomniac Games or Sony censoring content for regional markets. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 faced similar censorship in parts of the Middle East, where all Pride flags were removed, and a mission featuring a young gay couple was altered to omit references to their relationship. Kotaku has reached out to Sony for comment on these reports regarding Marvel's Wolverine.