In 2009, developers Atomic Games and publisher Konami announced Six Days In Fallujah, a third-person shooter based on a real battle five years before the ongoing Iraq War. This proved controversial for several reasons, enough that Konami soon abandoned the game and Atomic discarded it. Well, it’s coming back. Type. A “totally new” Six Days In Fallujah was announced today, now an FPS and being made and published by different companies. Huh. The trailer is below.
As before, the game is based in part on the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004, with today’s announcement saying “it recreates true stories of Iraqi marines, soldiers and civilians who fought against Al Qaeda”. He says players “will lead a team of firefighters through real-life encounters enabled by unique technology that simulates the uncertainty and tactics of urban combat”
He adds: “More than 100 Iraqi marines, soldiers and civilians who were present during the Second Battle of Fallujah shared their personal stories, photographs and video recordings with the development team.” In addition to shaping the game, they say that some will be present as documentary interviews.
This time, SDIF is being published by Victura, the new company of former Atomic CEO Peter Tamte – so there’s a connection. The developers are now Highware Games, a studio with several former Bungie members, including composer Marty O’Donnell and designer Jaime Griesemer. It is very strange to see this return after so many years. The SDIF website has a page titled simply WHY.
He says that “just because this war was controversial does not mean it was not filled with remarkable stories of sacrifice and courage. However, it prevented many of these stories from being told.” He essentially blames the death of the original on people who “believe video games shouldn’t deal with real-life events” and who think “video games look more like toys than a medium capable of communicating something insightful.”
Tabloid media such as the Daily Mail and Fox News were certainly controversial, suggesting that this was an insult to the memories of the soldiers who died. I imagine that this is a big part of the reason why Konami abandoned him. On the other hand, it was controversial for others for making a video game about the aggressors in an ongoing war that used disinformation, chauvinism and Islamophobia to justify invasion, murder, torture and war crimes. And some criticisms were not doubts in video games as a medium as much as doubts in this specific game.
Despite all the talk about authenticity, a demonstration shown to the press did not make that impression. My former Shacknews colleague, Nick Breckon (hi, Nick!), Reported seeing soldiers who rained explosives like Rambo and recovered from the bullets regenerating on the roof like Marcus Fenix. If this was an important story to tell, the demo did not seem to be happening in a way that did not suggest that the war was also legal. It certainly didn’t help that Konami tried to deflect the controversy by saying “At the end of the day, it’s just a game.” Konami abandoned the game three weeks later.
If it’s worth it, you, the old SDIF developer, Nathan Cheever, shared your work experiences in it in 2018. He thought the game was misinterpreted by the media. He became the world’s leading designer for Mafia 3, a game that did not shy away from the racism faced by a black veteran who returned from the Vietnam War.
I know that video games can handle complex and sensitive real-life events. I’m skeptical that this one in particular will make it.
Six Days In Fallujah will be released in 2021 for PC and consoles. Maybe for real this time.