Konami ditches Six Days in Fallujah

PC News | Company cuts controversial shooter loose.

While only being announced a fortnight ago, Konami has quickly canned the controversial Iraq shooter Six Days in Fallujah due to an outpouring of negative press. The title was intended to be a realistic portrayal of the bloody battle between insurgents and US forces in Fallujah in 2004.

The negative backlash came from families of fallen soldiers, retired veterans and citizens' groups in both the United States and Europe, who criticised the title, branding it as insensitive and in poor taste towards those that served in the conflict.

Konami's PR people were quick to share their side of the story, stating: "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. We had intended to convey the reality of the battles to players so that they could feel what it was like to be there."

There is no word on whether Atomic Games' realistic shooter will be saved from the scrap heap by another publisher, but judging by the amount of negative press surrounding the story, it's probably safe to say that this game will most likely never see the light of day.

Related Six Days in Fallujah Content

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30 Comments

Nietzsche

3 years ago

Why would they even announce it? They had to know it was to cause some controversy. I bet they will still wake the hand but it will be space fighting monkeys.

Benza

3 years ago

Nietzsche wrote

Why would they even announce it?

Because if they didn't it would sell 3 copies when it got released?

The developers are going to be making an anouncment about weather the game is going ahead in the next couple of days according to kotaku.

Ken_Gooner

3 years ago

ArcherGrave wrote

+ 1 to spanca

Call of duty is exactly the same except they cover it up,

Some arab country with terrorists in modern day ( i wonder who that could be aiming at? ( lol aiming ))

I find that COD4 has a very pacifist view toward the subject, true they didn't name anyone, but I remember that a journalist (not visable) says that "US Marines are set to invade the small but oil-rich country of..."- interrupted. Not to mention the "bad guy" providing his reasons on the intro.

It's a real shame to see this game buckle to pressure, was really looking forward to it.
I think Ka-Pom is right, the Americans don't want much media coverage of the war. Vietnam is evidence why they don't want it. A video game will raise a lot of awareness on the horrors of war going on down there. Look at the impact GTAIV had on release, the newspapers will have a field day with this game.

Just once I want to play as the enemy, or have a video game that involves war but isn't about shooting the living daylights out of everything.
One of my best mates used to think that the British and Yanks were "saving the world," then I showed him how to hate the government and figure out other reasons for war.

Yuppieville

3 years ago

Benza wrote

The developers are going to be making an anouncment about weather the game is going ahead in the next couple of days according to kotaku.

From what I've read, Atomic and its parent company have been working on this game for a few years now. That's a lot of work to just throw away. Oh and they did say that "We would very much like the opportunity to complete the game".

I reckon they'll just shop this around to other publishers. I just hope that the US Army don't get their hands on this game, and it is a likelihood considering Six Days was also going to be incorporated into army training. If this does eventuate, say goodbye to all that potential moral ambiguities and documentarial potential as they turn the retail game into a propaganda piece.

An aside: Could a game get away with depicting the Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombings, or is that still a contentious issue?

Benza

3 years ago

Yuppieville wrote

An aside: Could a game get away with depicting the Hiroshima or Nagasaki bombings, or is that still a contentious issue?

Fallout 3 got rid of most of the nuke stuff for Japans release.
http://kotaku.com/5082637/bethesda-censors-fallout-3-for-japan

I guess it would really be in how it's depicted, I mean japan nukes Tokyo in like every anime ever made.