Six Days in Fallujah has rejoined 11 years after Konami dumped it.
The Iraq war game, set during the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004, was dropped by Konami in April 2009 due to the amount of negative feedback received.
“After seeing the reactions to the video game in the United States and hearing opinions sent by phone and email, we decided a few days ago not to sell it,” a Konami spokesman said at the time.
“Our intention was to convey to the players the reality of the fights so they could feel what it was like to be there.”
Developer Atomic Games teamed up with real-life American soldiers to authentically retell the Iraq Battle of Fallujah from an American perspective. Unsurprisingly, the shooter for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 quickly came under fire from the mainstream press – even real-life SAS hardman Andy McNab got involved.
Now 11 years later, Six Days in Fallujah is back as a tactical military shooter based on real-world events, in development by former Halo and Destiny creators.
Founded in 2016 by former Atomic Games CEO Peter Tamte, Victura is the Seattle company behind the revival, signed with Golem studio Highwire to create the game. Highwire was created by Jaime Griesemer, who was lead designer for the original Halo and Destiny games, Marty O’Donnell, who was audio director and composer for Halo and Destiny, and Jared Noftle, who co-founded Airtight Games.
In her announcement, Victura includes a quote from former Marine Sergeant Eddie Garcia, who was injured in the Battle of Fallujah and suggested the original idea for Six Days in Fallujah in 2005:
“Sometimes the only way to understand what is true is to experience reality itself,” said Garcia.
“War is filled with uncertainty and difficult choices that cannot be understood by watching someone on a TV or movie screen make those choices for you. Video games can help us all understand real-world events in a way that other media cannot. can. “
The press release highlights that the developers are working with front-line Marines and soldiers who fought in the Battle of Fallujah, with more than 100 marines, soldiers and Iraqi civilians sharing their stories, photos and footage. The game will feature original documentary interview footage.
Here’s a bullish quote from Tamte, perhaps pending questions about why this game should be made:
“It’s hard to understand what fighting is really like by fake people doing fake things in fake places. This generation showed sacrifice and courage in Iraq that was as remarkable as it has been in history. And now they offer the rest of us a new way to understand it. one of the most important events of our century. It’s time to challenge outdated stereotypes about what video games can be. ”
Six Days in Fallujah will be released on PC and consoles sometime in 2021.