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Outrage over 'Fallujah' as entertainment nukes Raleigh-based Atomic’s title

Marines battle in "Fallujah"

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RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Atomic Games President Peter Tamte may forever rue the day when he said the following about “Six Days at Fallujah:”

"Our goal is to give people that insight, of what it's like to be a Marine during that event, what it's like to be a civilian in the city and what it's like to be an insurgent. For us, the challenge was how do you present the horrors of war in a game that is also entertaining."

The very idea that Tamte’s Raleigh-based company would create a videogame about one of the deadliest and most controversial battles of the Iraq war offended a lot of people. No doubt “entertaining” didn’t help, either.

Anthony Crouts, vice president of marketing at publisher Konami, described the genesis of “Fallujah” this way in a recent interview with VentureBeat:

“When a handful of Marines from the 3-1 battalion came back from Fallujah, they approached Atomic Games to create a game based upon their stories. By partnering with over three dozen U.S. Marines to help develop the game, we gained unprecedented access to battle plans, after-action reports, photos, videos and satellite maps. "Six Days in Fallujah" will combine the action of a military shooter while incorporating documentary style elements to create a new kind of experience that is both historical and engaging. We do want to be clear that "Six Days in Fallujah" is not a social commentary on the war. The goal is to give players insight to what it was like during such an important part of history. Using missions, objectives and scenarios grounded in factual events, "Six Days in Fallujah" will create a compelling interactive experience unlike any other developed.”

Monday, the Japanese-based publisher of the title said it was cancelling it:

“After seeing the reaction to the video game 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.”

Atomic Games didn’t respond to a request for comment Monday but provided the following statement Tuesday afternoon:

“We were informed on Thursday night that Konami had decided to pull out of 'Six Days in Fallujah,'” Tamte said in a statement provided to Local Tech Wire and WRAL.com.

“This caught us by surprise,” he added. “Development of the game had been progressing very well and on schedule. We would very much like the opportunity to complete the game.”

Tamte can be expected to address the topic when he speaks at the first Triangle Games Conference this week in Raleigh. After all, it’s not often that a game is cancelled well in advance of publication due to criticism rather than lack of commercial viability.

Who knows – “Fallujah” still might be a big seller if Atomic chooses to develop the game and either publish it or find another partner.

And there’s local precedent for plowing ahead despite protests. Epic Games in Cary, the developer of the “Unreal” and “Gears of War” certainly has ignored criticism of its violent games (especially in Germany).

Atomic did try to stress education as well as profit when it announced “Fallujah,” noting that several Marines who had fought in the battle served as advisors.

"Video games can communicate the intensity and the gravity of war to an audience who wouldn't necessarily be watching the History Channel or reading about this in the classroom," Mike Ergo, a Marine, told the Los Angeles Times.

No doubt about that. However, let’s face it – Fallujah in today’s politically charged climate is not Waterloo or D-Day.

Games have to be challenging, realistic and in the case of first-person shooters, deadly, in order to sell.

But “entertaining?” That one word more than any other likely made “Fallujah” too hot to publish, at least for Konami.

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