Konami drops Six Days in Fallujah game

Mike Bantick
Tuesday, 28 April 2009 04:51

Your IT - Entertainment

Publisher Konami has decided that it is too soon to release a game based on the current conflict in Iraq.  The company will no longer be publishing Six Days in Fallujah.

It was always going to be a tough sell.  A video game based on an ongoing conflict that is still costing young lives.

No matter how reverent or sensitive developer Atomic Games could be, Six Days in Fallujah was always going to be seen as a flippant approach to a serious and heart-breaking subject, purely by dint of the video game format.

Based on the pivotal November 2004 street battles between U.S. forces, insurgents and terrorists in the central Iraq city of Fallujah, Six Days in Fallujah drew on the experiences of 40 U.S. Marines involved in the conflict to recreate the events.

But the backlash from families and veterans to the project has clearly stated that the games proposed 2010 release date is simply too soon after the events it portrays to not be considered insensitive. 

"After seeing the reaction to the videogame in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and email, we decided several days ago not to sell it," a PR representative from Konami told Asahi. "We had intended to convey the reality of the battles to players so that they could feel what it was like to be there.

It is unsure at this point in time whether Atomic Games will pursue another publishing deal for the games release.

The game was due for release in 2010 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC (Games for Windows).