The victims of the Parkland shooting incident are furious at the upcoming shooting game which allows players to commit shooting at the schools. The name of the game is ‘Active Shooter’ and according to its webpage, the launching date of the game is 6 June. Steam, the marketplace of the video game said that it had removed the publisher and developer details from the internet.
The video shooting game is a dynamic SWAT game which allows players to be a part of the SWAT team and then attempts to disarm the shooters. During the game, a screen pop-up appears on the left side of the screen which keeps track of the number of civilians or police officer killed.
In a trailer-like video of the game, shooters are seen firing at the civilians who try to run away. Since then, the parents of the Florida School shooting incident have expressed anger over the pending launch of the game.
While commenting on the video game, Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the school shooting incident said that he had seen many horrific things in the last couple of months as his daughter was killed in the school shooting. He further said that this shooting game was one of those worst things. Fred expressed his emotions in a Twitter post.
I have seen and heard many horrific things over the past few months since my daughter was the victim of a school shooting and is now dead in real life. This game may be one of the worst.
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) May 27, 2018
Another victim of the Florida School shooting incident, Andrew Pollack, who lost her daughter Meadow in shooting incident said that in such circumstances, stimulated training for the shooting is the last thing they need. While giving an interview to The Miami Herald, Pollack said that the game developers should notice the influence this game would have and the development of this game has crossed the line. The developer of the game is Revived Games and the Acid is the publishing company.
It was further reported that the publishers plan to sale the game from $5 to $10 on Steam. However, the game also has a disclaimer attached to it which urges players not to take this game seriously as it is only based on simulation. The disclaimer further stated that if any player desires to hurt someone in reality then he/she should dial 911 or consult a psychiatrist.
The shooting game is set to be released after four months of Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting incident which killed 17 students and staff members and after less than a month of Santa Fe High School shooting incident which killed 10 students. The release timing of this game is hazardous as it comes during a year when the survivors of the Parkland shooting incident revoke the debate on gun control.
According to the critics, the developer of the game is taking advantage of the situation and trying to monetize the controversy. White Power: Pure Voltage and Tyde Pod Challenge are the other games which are developed by this developer.
It takes only $100 fee for a developer to submit a game to the Steam but after that, the company guidelines evaluate whether the game includes any offensive material intended to hurt the viewers. Valve, which is the publisher of the video game marketplace, has come under intense pressure to abandon the release of the game.
According to the reports, a petition demanding Valve to cancel the release of the game got 9,142 signatures in just two days. However, Valve had made no response to the cancellation of the game. A blog post was published by the Acid in which it was stated that the game does not promote any violence especially mass shooting.
Another victim of the school shooting incident, Ryan Petty, whose daughter Alaina was killed, demanded the immediate cancellation of the game. The member of the Broward County School Board, Petty said in an interview that Valve is taking advantage from the school shooting tragedies that affected so many people. Andrew Pollack endorsed Petty’s statement and said that those who developed this game are sick.
According to the reports, Acid is in talks with Valve over the criticism the game had received and asked the publisher to remove the role of the shooter from the game. While giving an interview to The Miami Herald, Arthur Belkin, owner of Acid said that the sad Americans who should focus on the actual issue has made the video game a much bigger scandal.