In 2009, Konami canceled the Six Days in Fallujah military shooter about the Iraq War after a barrage of criticism. 11 years later, the development of the game unexpectedly resumed, but with the help of a new studio and publisher. The team is led by former Bungie employees who worked on Halo and Destiny.
What is known about the restart?
The new announcement of Six Days in Fallujah took place yesterday on the official website of the project. The game is described as “the most realistic military shooter to date.” It is based on the events of the Battle of Fallujah, which took place in Iraq in 2004.
The Highwire Games studio, founded by game designer Jaime Griesemer, who worked on Halo and Infamous, and composer Marty O’Donnell, who wrote music for Halo and Destiny, is responsible for the development of the project.
The new publisher of Six Days in Fallujah is Victura, founded by former Bungie Vice President Peter Tamte. At one time, he was also the owner of Destineer, which owned the Atomic Games studio — the original developers of Six Days in Fallujah.
According to Highware Games, the development was advised by more than 100 veterans of the Iraq War, who shared memories, photos and archival videos with the team.
Why did Konami abandon the project?
Shortly after the initial announcement, Konami faced a wave of criticism of Six Days in Fallujah. The game was opposed by soldiers’ families, anti-war organizations, and some veterans demanded to ban it altogether.
“After we saw the reaction to our video game in the USA and listened to the opinions of people who called and wrote to us, we decided to cancel the project,“ a Konami representative commented in 2009.
The problem was that Six Days in Fallujah was originally positioned as a game that would tell the story of the battle from an American point of view. Destineer’s connection with the CIA and the FBI also added scandalousness to the project. In 2005, the company developed training simulators with the support of the government.
Opinions of players and experts
In the comments under the new trailer for Six Days in Fallujah, many players express the hope that the game will turn out to be the spiritual heir of the shooter Spec Ops: The Line. Despite the existing dislikes, the majority took the announcement positively.
The reaction of gaming experts was less unambiguous. Well-known analyst Daniel Ahmad attacked the developers of Six Days in Fallujah with criticism. He believes that the studio “justifies US war crimes,” and the development of the project should not have been resumed.
The same opinion is shared by indie developer Rami Ismail. “I can’t help but worry about the release of another pro-American product that rewrites history and justifies US war crimes. Let’s hope that my skepticism will not be justified,“ he said shortly after the announcement.
Six Days in Fallujah will be released in 2021 on PC and consoles.