Tag Archives: Six Days in Fallujah

There’s something strange going on in the world of the military shooter right now. Call of Duty: Black Ops has recently become the biggest entertainment launch in history. Medal of Honor made the news by virtue of being set in a current conflict. And yet there is a groundswell of feeling that the genre is becoming stagnant, repetitive, unadventurous – that the lack of bravery and conviction evident in EA’s concession to renaming the Taliban is indicative of a wider trend not just in the genre, but in the games industry as a whole, and that the tyranny of triple-A boxed-title franchises is leading us to a creative dead end.

Peter Tamte is the President of Atomic Games, the studio behind forthcoming download-only multiplayer shooter Breach, a title that he hopes will shake up our perceptions about how first-person shooters can be made and marketed. It’s also the studio that made Six Days in Fallujah, an ambitious military FPS set in the early years of the Iraq War that was famously dropped by publisher Konami because of its controversial content. On a recent visit to London to promote Breach, he talked to us about his conviction that something has to change.

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Atomic Games president Peter Tamte has revealed that Six Days in Fallujah is not “complete” and reports stating such were “lost in translation”.

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According to IGN, Atomic Games’ Six Days in Fallujah has finished development, with a release still intended for the game.

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An unnamed source has told IndustryGamers that Atomic Games has laid off all but about a dozen staff members at its Raleigh, North Carolina offices.

“The remaining team is basically a skeleton cleanup crew that will be gone soon too,” stated the source, adding that the firm is “pretty much dead”.

Atomic Games announced earlier this week that it had let some staffers go due to not finding funding for Six Days in Fallujah.

No word on the exact number of redundancies was made available.

Atomic Games released a statement to the press, admitting that it has cut an unannounced number of staff members.

The company said in the statement that the reduction a direct result of not being able to attain funding for Six Days in Fallujah.

Here’s the full statement:

Due to a mixture of fears about the edgy subject matter of Six Days in Fallujah, as well as low videogame sales this summer, we have been unable to secure full-scale funding from a major publisher for Six Days in Fallujah. This has caused us to reduce the size of our studio today.

In the words of Marine officer Chesty Puller, “We’re surrounded. That simplifies the problem.” Development at Atomic will continue with a smaller team that will be funded by our sister company, Destineer.

We wish to assure the dozens of Marine veterans who have collectively invested hundreds of hours in this project that, while we have been badly wounded, we will fight on. The stories of your brothers’ courage and sacrifice in Fallujah must be shared with the world.

All of the 75 people in the Atomic studio have stayed with us until this week. This is a testament not just to their commitment to Six Days in Fallujah, but also to their character when faced with adversity and personal financial risk. We encourage videogame development studios wishing to speak with the many talented and loyal staff who are affected by this situation to contact the jobs page on the atomic.com web site.

Reports started surfacing yesterday that creative director Juan Benito had left the company.

Atomic Games is still touting Six Days in Fallujah to publishers.

While the game was dropped by Konami back in April, publicity surrounding the title has never waned.

“We have a lot of people who are interested in the project… But I’ll feel better when we sign something and the checks start coming,” said company president Peter Tamte to Newsweek.

He admitted, however, that he should have reached out to families of soldiers killed in action during the Fallujah surge, and in hindsight felt Atomic should have given more thought to the feelings of those most touched by the event.

More through the link.

Via Kotaku.

Atomic Games’ Peter Tamte told attendees during his keynote at the Triangle Game Conference that he hopes Six Days in Fallujah will “change expectations of what a video game can be” and that this sort of documentary style gaming is an immersive story-telling tool.

“Every form of media has grown by producing content about current events, content that’s powerful because it’s relevant. Movies, music and TV have helped people make sense of the complex issues of our times.

“Are we really just high-tech toymakers, or are we media companies capable of producing content that is as relevant as movies, music and television?” he asked the audience.

“This is what brought us close to many of the Marines who fought in Fallujah. After they got back from Fallujah, these Marines asked us to tell their story. They asked us to tell their story through the most relevant medium of the day — a medium they use the most — and that is the video game.

“‘Six Days in Fallujah’ is not about whether the U.S. and its allies should have invaded Iraq. It’s an opportunity for the world to experience the true stories of the people who fought in one of the world’s largest urban battles of the past half-century.”

We went on to say that the documentary film-style of the game gives you a different perspective than any other form of gaming, and he hopes Six Days in Fallujah gets the opportunity to prove it.

“It is the dilemmas you face, and the choices you make, that give you insight into the events that are shaping our world in a way that no passive form of media can,We hope that ‘Six Days in Fallujah’ will have the opportunity to change expectations of what a video game can be.”

Via GamePolitics and Raleigh News Observer)

Atomic Games president Peter Tamte said today that his firm was surprised by Konami removing itself from Six Days in Fallujah.

“We were informed on Thursday night that Konami had decided to pull out of Six Days in Fallujah,” he said in an official statement. “This caught us by surprise. Development of the game had been progressing very well and on schedule.

“We would very much like the opportunity to complete the game.”

We contacted Atomic and asked what the future held for the game, and whether or not other publishers had showed any interest in acquiring the controversial title. We were quickly met with a staunch, “No comment”.

When asked when more information will be made available, we were told that no specific time-frame was in place.

The title was scheduled for release in 2010 for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Whoops. Konami’s dropped Six Day in Fallujah after the completely unexpected heavy criticism levelled at the Iraq War project.

“After seeing the reaction to the videogame in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and email, we decided several days ago not to sell it,” a Konami rep told Asahi.

“We had intended to convey the reality of the battles to players so that they could feel what it was like to be there.”

That was kind of what got the kids antsy, Mr Konami.

The title was supposed to release for PS3, 360 and PC in 2010. It’s being developed by Atomic Games.

There’s a good opportunity there, Mr Struggling Publisher Looking for Easy Money. It’s certainly got “buzz” behind it.

Thanks, Dark Zero.

According to GamePro.de, Konami reps at a Frankfurt event last week said the publisher’s still undecided on whether or not to release Six Days in Fallujah in Europe.

Apparently, the way the game’s action is depicted will dictate if the title’s released outside the US.

Six Days in Fallujah is planned for a 2010 launch for PC, PS3 and 360.

Thanks, Joystiq and Eurogamer.

Gamespot’s posted three new screens of Konami’s Six Days in Fallujah.

If it’s realism city you’re after, this game is mayor. Apart from the fact that players aren’t actually in an insane, senseless firefight with random people they want to kill for no reason, obviously.

It’s out later this year.

Unsurprisingly, knickers have been got very much in a twist of Konami’s Iraq War game, Six Days in Fallujah.

The title, announced yesterday, is based on 2004′s Battle for Fallujah, one of the War’s major set pieces.

“Considering the enormous loss of life in the Iraq War, glorifying it in a video game demonstrates very poor judgement and bad taste,” said the father of a British marine killed in the conflict, speaking to the Daily Mail.

“These horrific events should be confined to the annals of history, not trivialised and rendered for thrill-seekers to play out.”

Former colonel Tim Collins OBE, a decorated Iraq War veteran, shared the view.

“It’s much too soon to start making video games about a war that’s still going on, and an extremely flippant response to one of the most important events in modern history,” he said.

“It’s particularly insensitive given what happened in Fallujah, and I will certainly oppose the release of this game.”

More on GamePolitics.

Konami’s announced Six Days in Fallujah, a third-person tactical shooter based on 2004′s battle for the Iraqi city that left 38 US soldiers and 1,200 opposition forces dead, according to this LA Times report.

American developer Atomic Games is developing the title, which will release in 2010.

Said Atomic boss Peter Tamte: “For us, the challenge was, ‘How do you present the horrors of war in a game that is also entertaining, but also gives people insight into a historical situation in a way that only a video game can provide?’

“Our goal is to give people that insight, of what it’s like to be a Marine during that event, what it’s like to be a civilian in the city and what it’s like to be an insurgent.”

There’s tons more through there. Thanks, GamePolitics.