China extended its crackdown on pornography to online games after shutting down 1,250 websites for having explicit pornographic content.

The Ministry of Culture said in a notice on its website yesterday that it had blacklisted a number of online games, including the Red Light Center, for having pornographic content.

The multi-user game, developed by Vancouver-based Utherverse Inc, features a virtual sex function for fee-paying users through computerized personae. The game's website was inaccessible last night. The ministry notice ordered game developers to clean up their act.