Dev hopes to finish Six Days in Fallujah

By Fred Dutton Published 16 November, 2010

But won't change location to "Bullcrapistan".

The studio behind controversial FPS Six Days in Fallujah still holds out hope that a finished version of the game will eventually see the light of day.

Speaking to VG247, Atomic Games president Peter Tamte said, "What we need is the funding to complete it."

"Six Days takes place during the most relevant event of an entire generation," he explained.

"Some people suggested, 'Why not just make it Six Days in Bullcrapistan?' We could have done that, but that would have taken away one of the reasons why we made the game, which was to recreate the specific stories of some people who are our heroes – I can't do that in Bullcrapistan because it loses its context."

The shooter, set during the bloody battle for the Iraqi town of Fallujah in 2004, was all set to be released by Konami, but the publisher pulled out following controversy over the game's contemporary setting.

"Considering the enormous loss of life in the Iraq War, glorifying it in a videogame demonstrates very poor judgement and bad taste," said Reg Keys, whose son Thomas was killed by a mob in Iraq while serving as a Red Cap, told The Daily Mail. "It is particularly crass when you consider what actually happened in Fallujah.

"These horrific events should be confined to the annuls of history, not trivialised and rendered for thrill-seekers to play out, over and over again, for ever more."

Elsewhere in the VG247 interview, Tamte insisted, "We in the videogames industry are not making our job any easier to try and convince people that we are doing anything that is not trivial.

"What happened to Six Days is a case example... until someone challenges that assumption, games will continue to be perceived as trivial."

Atomic Games is currently readying multiplayer shooter Breach. Look out for that on PC and Xbox Live Arcade in January 2011.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (13) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • ChthonicEcho #1 2 years ago

    "Six Days takes place during the most relevant event of an entire generation."

    Not 9/11, then? Hey, I know! Why not make a platformer set in the WTC with the goal to get out, but you can end the game at any time by jumping out the window? I bet it'll score 9s and 10s all around!
    Edited by ChthonicEcho at 16/11/10 @ 19:17

  • Kanjin #2 2 years ago

    Yes, the amazing stories of running down linear streets shooting American-accented arabs in the face, amazing, really.

  • darkmorgado #3 2 years ago

    that would have taken away one of the reasons why we made the game, which was to recreate the specific stories of some people who are our heroes

    Somehow I doubt they will recreate the massive civilian loss of life at the hands of the coalition.

  • ChthonicEcho #4 2 years ago

    @beemoh

    Ah, yes, I remember, now. It was extremely controversial, too, as I recall it. Point is, if you want to explore an important event that is currently relevant, you make a documentary. Games haven't reached the level of maturity to sensibly explore such events. The man might mean no harm and have honestly good ideas, but they are misplaced.

  • Thedni #5 2 years ago

    I hope they do get it released some day. They seemed to have a strong 'War is hell' vibe going on that is missing from today's shooters. Granted it walks a fine line in taste but if video games are ever to be considered a mature medium something like this needs to be done to a very high standard.

    If video games are destined to stay as action blockbusters like CoD with little substance behind the action, then that's a wee bit depressing.

  • darkmorgado #6 2 years ago

    GamesTM did a report on this last year. Basically saying it was just like any other FPS, including regenerating health, only using the "realistic" setting to generate controversy. It made no attempt to address how many innocents were killed, and approached the whole thing from a "ragheads must die!" mentality.

  • ChthonicEcho #7 2 years ago

    @beemoh

    You make small steps. According to that man, the Fallujah incident is the most relevant event of an entire generation. Assuming he is correct, isn't that a bit of a big leap for an industry which thrives on senseless interactive violence and macho rubbish?

    You make a sober video game which focuses on intelligent narrative (Heavy Rain), and you're laughed at by one of the industry's leading game designers (Cliffy B) for making a game for girls. Oh, sure, one might argue he meant to say marketing should have attracted girls, but we all know Cliffy better than that. 'Sides, if Modern Warfare 2 attracted female gamers without special marketing, then... well.

    The game industry is currently in an embarrassing state, not at all fit for games such as this. One needs to make small steps and not shy away from making fictional equivalents of a story or an event they want to explore. Missing context? Translate it. This event is not important because it happened in Fallujah - it's important because of the idea behind it.

    If or when developers show that games can tackle such ideas and portray fictional events in a fashion that leaves you thinking long after you turn it off, then they can think about interactive documentaries.

  • varkdm #8 2 years ago

    Why is it OK to make films of these things but not games?

    Films that tackle these events and settings sensitively are lauded by critics and the press (Hurt Locker?). Everyone is assuming that this game is going to be gung ho bog standard FPS stuff, but its not been finished and so noone except the designers can really know what it was going to be like.

    This stuff can be done well - look at things like Modern Warfare, the bit with the nuke. Effective and unexpected, even though most of the game was pretty gung ho. Fill a game with clever and well thought out moments like that... probably a hell of a lot more effective at telling a real story and portraying a real experience than a film could ever be. Even Halo's last few installments have gotten pretty good at portraying difficult scenes and emotional situations, the ending of Halo Reach was a real surprise to me (not the result, just how they went about it).

    So yea. the games industry does need to start challenging this negative perception in the press - but the only way it does that is by producing challenging games sensitively.

  • spekkeh #9 2 years ago

    Even though I emphatically support the games-as-socially-relevant-art movement, ChthonicEcho +100.

  • el_pollo_diablo #10 2 years ago

    "The most relevant event of an entire generation"

    The day Faith No More got back together?

  • Cronan #11 2 years ago

    I'd buy it

  • borkedconsole #12 2 years ago

    Depends on the way the game carries itself. Those soldier relatives' arguments are plain idiotic. Whose Normany invasion soldiers relatives complained on all those WW2 games? And that's besides the point too. Maybe this game was going to be actually different from CoD 15, and would finally shutup those self-important soldier tools turned game/media/world experts blabbering on media outlets, and on Eurogamer too.

  • arcam #13 1 year ago

    "The most relevant event of an entire generation"

    Scott and Charlene's wedding?