British counter-terrorism unit asks Steam to remove controversial shooter from sale



The Counter Terrorism Internet Reporting Unit (CTIRU), which was established in 2010 by the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) with the aim of removing illegal terrorism-related content from the internet, has requested that a game that allows users to 'simulate the position of a Palestinian fighter attacking an Israeli Defense Force position' be removed from Steam in the UK on October 7, 2023.

Steam Removes Oct 7 Game at Request of UK Counter-Terrorism Unit
https://www.404media.co/steam-removes-oct-7-game-at-request-of-uk-counter-terrorism-unit/



UK counter-terrorism unit demands Steam withdraw controversial shooter from sale | Eurogamer.net
https://www.eurogamer.net/uk-counter-terrorism-unit-demands-steam-withdraw-controversial-shooter-from-sale

The game in question is a shooting game called 'Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque', and the official description of the game is 'An FPS/TPS game that deals with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from a Palestinian perspective. An enhanced Palestinian version of Max Payne . The most base game ever!!!'. Released on April 18, 2022, the genres of this game are 'action', 'adventure', 'indie', and 'strategy', and it was developed by Nidal Nijm Games , a Muslim web designer and game developer. The selling price of 'Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque' is 1,700 yen including tax, but it can be purchased for 578 yen including tax during the Steam Autumn Sale 2024.

66% off on Steam: Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1714420/Fursan_alAqsa_The_Knights_of_the_AlAqsa_Mosque/



'Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque' became a hot topic in 2023 when the conservative X (formerly Twitter) account Libs of TikTok introduced it, saying, 'Players can simulate becoming a Hamas terrorist killing Jews in the Old City of Jerusalem while shouting, 'Allah is great.''




According to a report from 404 Media, Valve, the operator of Steam, contacted Nidal Nijm Games on October 22, 2023 to inform them that it had stopped selling 'Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque' in the UK. A Valve representative explained to Nidal Nijm Games that 'we received a request from the UK authorities to block the game, and we applied the country-specific restrictions.'

'This is unfortunate. As you all know, my game is not that different from other shooters on Steam, like Call of Duty,' Nidal Nijm Games said in a statement.

When asked about this, a Valve spokesperson said, 'We were contacted by the UK CTIRU. As CTIRU, like any authority in the region, has oversight and control over what content can be made public, we are required to comply with their requests.'

CTIRU is an organization run by the Metropolitan Police, which investigates and removes 'extremist content' reported on internet platforms. It announced that it has removed 310,000 pieces of extremist content so far in 2018. According to CTIRU, it received approximately 1,300 reports in the 11 months from January to November 2018.

A CTIRU spokesperson told 404 Media: 'CTIRU works closely with a range of technology, social media and online service providers but does not comment on specific content or communications with specific platforms or providers.'



However, in early November 2024, 'Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque' released an update called 'Operation al-Aqsa Flood Update' that allows the game to simulate attacks on Israel by Hamas. The trailer for the update has been

uploaded to MEGA , and the trailer starts with black and white text saying, 'Where are the people with explosive belts? Where are they? Come here, blow up the Zionists with explosive belts!!!' After that, a scene is shown of a Hamas fighter landing on an Israel Defense Forces base with a motorized paraglider and killing an Israeli soldier. The trailer also shows a Hamas fighter shooting a kneeling Israeli female soldier in the back of the head to execute her, but Nidal Nijm Games explained that players cannot do such an act.

While the Steam sales page for Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque makes no mention of Hamas, the player's character wears a green headband reminiscent of Hamas, and by mentioning the operation's name and paragliding, the game suggests that the player is affiliated with Hamas or another Palestinian militant group.



This is not the first time that Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been blocked in certain regions: it was taken off the market in Germany and Australia for not having age restrictions.

Nidal Nijm Games told 404 Media, 'My game was blocked in the UK for obvious political reasons. They're accusing my game of being 'terrorist' propaganda.' However, Nidal Nijm Games said, 'I'm forever grateful to Valve for allowing me to publish my game on Steam in the first place. Valve is one of the few companies that truly respects creative freedom, and I understand that Valve removed the game because they had to comply with local laws. So I don't blame Valve or Steam. I blame the UK government and authorities who are angry about video games. According to their erroneous logic, the latest Call of Duty Black Ops 6 should also be banned, because players play as American soldiers and go to Iraq to kill Iraqis. All I can say is that the UK government has a double standard,' he said, criticizing the UK government for requesting the deletion, not Valve.

404 Media, who actually played 'Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque,' said, 'It's a terrible game. It feels like Nidal Nijm Games bought some assets from a 3D model marketplace, sprinkled in some Israeli flags, and built a few monotonous, uninteresting levels where players shoot guns. At the most basic level, it's a functional shooter, but once you get away from the subject, it's nothing new or interesting and feels like the worst of the shoddy stuff that's flooding Steam.'



Regarding why Nidal Nijm Games depicts a scene of Hamas fighters executing Israeli soldiers, but penalizes players for killing unarmed soldiers in the actual game, they said, 'I made this cutscene just to provoke and anger Zionists. I also made it to discuss the meaning of freedom of speech in the real world. Everyone agrees with the infamous Call of Duty: Modern Warfare mission ' No Russian ', so why isn't it allowed in my game?'

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II's 'No Russian,' players take part in a brutal terrorist attack at a Russian airport, mass shooting dozens of civilians. The mission has been called into question by multiple media outlets and is not included in the Russian version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, while the Japanese and German versions penalize players for shooting civilians.

No Russian - Wikipedia
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Russian

In response to Nidal Nijm Games' claims, 404 Media said, 'Nidal Nijm Games has certainly made a legitimate claim.' 'There are countless shooters in which Arabs, Russians and other nationalities are treated as nothing more than cannon fodder. If you've played video games all your life, like me, you've probably killed hundreds of thousands of Arab NPCs. The reason the British authorities deemed Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque 'extremist' is simply because the player characters are Palestinians and the enemies are Israeli soldiers.'

404 Media concludes by writing, 'Once again, my professional opinion as a long-time game reviewer is that Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is a terrible, bad-taste game. As Nidal Nijm Games points out, the same could be said about Call of Duty. Valve does not currently distinguish between the two, but the UK government does.'

Related Posts:

in Game, Posted by logu_ii