(Photo : Nidal Nijm Games / Screenshot taken from Steam)
Steam has removed a controversial 2022 game from sale from its British storefront following a demand from the UK's counter-terrorism unit.
The game in question is Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Asqa Mosque. It is a first-person/third-person shooter title. It is described as "addressing the Israel x Palestine conflict from a Palestinian perspective."
Steam Removes Controversial Game From UK Storefront
Steam then contacted the game's developer, Nidal Nijm, to inform him that they had received a request from authorities in the UK. This was to block the game from the region's storefront and have applied such country restrictions.
The Brazilian developer allegedly asked if there was a "specific reason" why the UK's counter-terrorism unit made such a request to Steam. He noted that his game was not too much different than any other shooters on Valve's gaming platform like the Call of Duty franchise.
He was told that the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) contacted Steam as it was responsible for overseeing and governing what content can be made available in the region, according to Eurogamer.
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A spokesperson for the UK counter-terrorism unit said in an email that it was working closely with a range of technology, social media, and online service providers. However, it does not comment on specific content or any communication that they may have with specific platforms or providers.
In a statement, the developer wrote that the region lock to his game in the UK was "clearly due to political reasons." Nijm added that he was not blaming Steam or Valve as they were only following rules and laid the blame on the UK government and authorities.
Recreating the Hamas Attack
The 2022 shooter recently added content that recreated aspects of the Hamas terrorist group's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque lets players take control of the fictional character "Ahmad al-Falastini, Aljazeera said.
The protagonist of the game is a young Palestinian student who is working to get his revenge on Israeli soldiers. The latter are the ones who were responsible for torturing him and killing his family.
The latest content for the game shows Hamas fighters landing motorized paragliders into an Israeli Defense Force base. The group then proceeds to kill off Israeli soldiers. The trailer showed the Hamas fighters putting a female Israeli soldier on her knees and executing her by shooting her in the back of her head.
The developer later said that the latter part of the trailer is not something that players will be able to do. Nijm added that those who actually try to recreate that particular part of the trailer will be penalized, according to 404 Media.
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