The game 'explores the business of producing, breeding and selling weed in America' as well as the 'political and cultural aspects of the country's complex relationship with this troublesome and promising plant'
FACEBOOK and YouTube have both slapped serious restrictions on a new game that drops you into America's burgeoning legal marijuana market.
Weedcraft's publisher, Devolver Digital, reports that the game's Facebook page has been locked down, and they have been banned from advertising the game or the page on the platform.
Facebook has restricted the game's page, which means that the game can't be promoted to anyone who has not already liked it on the platform, cutting off any reach to new users.
YouTube, meanwhile, has "demonetised" all videos featuring the game, disabling all ads running alongside them under its "drugs and dangerous products or substances" policy.
This means streamers and others are actively discouraged from posting videos of it because they won't get any revenue from them no matter how many people watch.
The game had been "banned from Facebook" despite the fact that it "features no illegal drug use or violence" Stephanie Tinsley.
It is still available for sale and , however.
Tinsley went on to highlight how games featuring murder and graphic violence are not subject to such restrictions, and highlighting a number of anti-Semitic, White Nationalist and other racist videos that are still allowed to have ads.
YouTube's advertising policies have a specific exemption for "videos discussing drugs.. for educational, documentary, and artistic purposes... so long as drug use or substance abuse is not graphic or glorified," which the publisher claims should apply here.
Devolver's Mike Wilson the firm had been "absolutely stunned with the amount of resistance this game has received." Describing the game as "thoughtful" and "totally agnostic about the subject matter". He also said the game was "an educational look at the fascinating dynamics of building businesses."
"Today's restriction by Facebook, where Nazi propaganda, and endless stream of fake news, and live snuff films proliferate, is especially insulting," he said.
The game does feature some illegal activity as it mirrors the complex and contradictory drug laws in the United States at the moment.
Use of the drug is legal in ten states, and decriminalised in fourteen more and allowed for medical use in all but South Dakota, Nebraska and Idaho.
However, use and possession of the drug is still illegal under federal law.
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