Just over three weeks ago Konami announced to the world that they were busy developing a third-person shooter that aimed to recreate the United States’ six day long assault on the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The game, which was being developed by Atomic Games was set for release next year, but has been cancelled.
Atomic worked closely with more than 35 soldiers that were involved in the conflict in question. Apparently it was originally intended to be released as a combat simulator for the US military, but it was decided that the game would be developed for full retail release at the request of the soldiers involved. However, as was to be expected, the game’s controversial nature led to a fairly hefty backlash from a vocal public that felt the game was in poor taste.
A public relations official at Konami had this to say:
“After seeing the reaction to the videogame in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and e-mail, we decided several days ago not to sell it”
While the game has officially been canceled, we would not be surprised if a less descript third-person shooter with fully destructible environments and set in an unspecified desert war setting emerges from Konami over the next 18 months.
We can understand the negative feelings felt by many people towards the concept of 6 Days in Fallujah, but it would be a waste to throw away hours of work spent of terrain rendering, physics programming etc. All Konami has to do is rebrand the game and do away with the direct link to the Iraqi conflict. People are happy to pay for war simulators, as long as they are not simulating a war that has been over for a few years. A trivial distinction in our opinion, but one which Konami would do well to abide by in future.
There is also the possibility that Atomic Games will try to have the game picked up by another publisher.
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