School Shooting Simulator Provokes Controversy And Outrage
Valve is in the news again and unfortunately, the attention is in less than ideal circumstances. A developer on Steam is about to release a school shooting simulator that has hit a serious spot in the United States current state of affairs. The game gives players the option to play an elite S.W.A.T. member or a shooter and to either “neutralize the target” or become the target, and there’s a variety of weapons to choose from. With the current political climate on gun control and its controversial status, the upcoming release of Active Shooter is being touted as a game done in poor taste.
In fact, news outlets and folks all over social media networks are reporting and responding to the game’s presence on Steam. Steam users began several threads recanting or showing support for the game’s existence. Separately, BBC reported an anti-gun violence charity group is on the move to flag a take-down on Active Shooter that promotes the “slaughter” of “as many civilians as possible”. A spokesperson for the group stated:
It’s in very bad taste. There have been 22 school shootings in the US since the beginning of this year. It is horrendous. Why would anybody think it’s a good idea to market something violent like that, and be completely insensitive to the deaths of so many children? We’re appalled that the game is being marketed.”
In response to the controversy the game has caused, the developer reached out with a statement to address the numerous accusations and condemnations. Initially, they stated, “Please do not take any of this serious. This is only meant to be the simulation and nothing else.” Here’s what ACID relayed to the public recently:
Originally when this game started its course of the development, I have planned on having SWAT only based gameplayer. Then I thought about adding more gameplay to it by adding additional roles: of the shooter and the civilian. While I can see people’s anger and why this might be a bad idea for the game, I still feel like this topic should be left alone. As I mentioned in steam discussion forums, there are games like Hatred, Postal, Carmageddon and etc., which are even worst compared to “Active Shooter” and literally focus on mass shootings/killings of people.
Several criticized the developers involved with the school shooting simulator as blatantly ignoring the context in which the game is present. School shootings are a sore spot for the United States right now and that’s a fact, regardless of the creator’s intentions. There are those on the opposite end singing praise for the game’s existence, opposing “SJWs” and people who are being “too sensitive”.
Taking into consideration government opposition to video games at this time as well, it certainly doesn’t help the industry in any respect. Despite research done to disprove the theory of “games cause violence”, this may further drive the agenda for worse. At this time, Valve has been contacted by both developer and concerned netizens regarding the school shooting simulator. We have yet to hear back with an official response. Twitter users aren’t waiting to share their thoughts however:
https://twitter.com/EiraDuval/status/999620354598424576
https://twitter.com/SteveChopz/status/999606583305932800
BBC News – Steam store school-shooting game 'appalling' https://t.co/pQhiFpLwQF People really don't have any empathy at all do they? Your statement on the back of this is "Don't take it too seriously"…..
— Papa Troy 🇬🇭 🔜EGX (@TroyTheDirector) May 24, 2018
Active Shooter is scheduled for release on June 6th. What are your thoughts on the creation of Active Shooter? Do you think the game was done in poor taste or should it be left alone? Let us know what you think in the comments section below or start a conversation on DFTG Facebook page. To stay up to date on gaming news as it happens, follow us on Twitter! Here’s some of our latest:
Hoi Duong2131 Posts
Hoi is an elusive figure at DFTG, whose favorite past-times include chillin' in the Fade, reading manga, watching anime, collecting novelty items, and gaming.
