Yerli: Crytek will leave Germany if country bans action games

Crytek president and co-founder Cevat Yerli has stated that if Germany bans action games, the company will be forced to relocate to another country.

"A ban on action games in Germany is concerning us because it is essentially like banning the German artists that create them," he told PC Games Germany. "If the German creative community can’t effectively participate in one of the most important cultural mediums of our future, we will be forced to relocate to other countries.

"The current political discussion will deprive German talent of its place on the global game development stage, and deprive German consumers of entertainment that is considered safe and fun around the world."

The German government is currently contemplating an outright ban on violent action games - or ones that involve violent acts against human or human-like characters.

Such a ban would not only mean retailers would be prohibited from selling titles in this genre, but that companies would no longer be able to manufacture or develop them.

Officials had hoped to introduce the ban before the federal elections in September, but on online petition garnering the support of 67,000 has put these plans on hold; under German rules, any petition that reaches over 50,000 signatures in less than six weeks submitted to the Bundestag is read and discussed in parliament.

Government criticism of videogames has been mounting since a school shooting in March was linked to online shooter Counter-Strike.