Active shooter video game set for release slammed by Parkland parents

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Anti-gun violence advocates and the parents of Parkland shooting victims are outraged over a new video game that enables users to play the part of an active shooter who opens fire inside a school.

The computer game, which is called "Active Shooter," permits players to control either the gunman or a member of the S.W.A.T. team who attempts to stop the attack. The game, which is created by Revived Games and due out June 6, has been met with widespread backlash, with critics condemning it as unsympathetic in the aftermath of numerous school shootings in America.

"The last thing we need is a simulated training on school shootings," Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February, said in a statement to the Miami Herald. "Video game designers should think of the influence they hold. This really crosses the line."

Meadow, 18, was one of 17 students and faculty members at the Parkland, Fla. school who were killed in the Feb. 14 attack. There have 23 incidents so far in 2018 on American school campuses where someone has been struck or killed by a bullet. Ten people were killed in a shooting at a Santa Fe, Texas, high school earlier this month.

"Active Shooter" is set to be released on Steam, an online video game market that is operated by the Valve publishing company. The game is promoted on Steam as a "dynamic SWAT simulator," with a description page for the game noting that a mode where users can play as a civilian is also coming.

"Please do not take any of this seriously," a disclaimer on the description page reads. "This is only meant to be the simulation and nothing else. If you feel like hurting someone or people around you, please seek help from local psychiatrists or dial 911 (or applicable)."

Ryan Petty, whose 14-year-old daughter Alaina was also killed at Stoneman Douglas, is hopeful the game will never actually be released.

"It's disgusting that Valve Corp. is trying to profit from the glamorization of tragedies affecting our schools across the country," Petty said in a statement to The Herald. "Keeping our kids safe is a real issue affecting our communities and is in no way a 'game.'"

The game also disappointed Andrew Patrick, the media director for The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, who told the Daily News that products such as "Active Shooter" are "insulting to the victims, the family members (and) all these students that are fighting to change the laws" for gun control.

He believes the bigger issue, however, remains how easy it is for people to obtain guns in America.

"We're not going to blame the access of video games for gun violence," Patrick told The News. "We blame the access of guns.







Well now they had to KNOW this was going to cause an uproar, and that the recent shootings would ensure a lot of attention to it.

I can't believe people are trying to censor a video game now, how ridiculous can they get?

Tommy QTR wrote:

I can't believe people are trying to censor a video game now, how ridiculous can they get?

I'm on the fence. You can't say this isn't a very insensitive type game being released at a very inappropriate time, given the recent school shootings.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

I can't believe people are trying to censor a video game now, how ridiculous can they get?

I'm on the fence.  You can't say this isn't a very insensitive type game being released at a very inappropriate time, given the recent school shootings.

Anytime is inappropriate these days.

Tommy QTR wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

I can't believe people are trying to censor a video game now, how ridiculous can they get?

I'm on the fence.  You can't say this isn't a very insensitive type game being released at a very inappropriate time, given the recent school shootings.

Anytime is inappropriate these days.

Sadly you are right.

This is nothing new, GTA IV did it all 10 years ago.

There are already school shooting simulators, why stop this one?


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Population Control wrote:

There are already school shooting simulators, why stop this one?


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My honest guess is because it is being released following the latest school shootings.

Ziamber II wrote:

This is nothing new, GTA IV did it all 10 years ago.

Yeah, this is just a slippery slope to ban anything that's "violent" or "insensitive".

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

I can't believe people are trying to censor a video game now, how ridiculous can they get?

I'm on the fence.  You can't say this isn't a very insensitive type game being released at a very inappropriate time, given the recent school shootings.

Couldn't we say the same of Super Columbine Massacre RPG? At least this game isn't directly based off of a real crime and gives players an opportunity to play as a SWAT team member who takes the shooter down. It's no different than playing Counter-Strike, where one team are terrorists and the other team is counter-terrorists.

QuestionMark wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

I can't believe people are trying to censor a video game now, how ridiculous can they get?

I'm on the fence.  You can't say this isn't a very insensitive type game being released at a very inappropriate time, given the recent school shootings.

Couldn't we say the same of Super Columbine Massacre RPG? At least this game isn't directly based off of a real crime and gives players an opportunity to play as a SWAT team member who takes the shooter down. It's no different than playing Counter-Strike, where one team are terrorists and the other team is counter-terrorists.

Agreed.

All I was trying to say was the game's designers had to know that releasing the game right on the heels of the latest school shootings was going to gain attention and a ton of shit thrown their way.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

I can't believe people are trying to censor a video game now, how ridiculous can they get?

I'm on the fence.  You can't say this isn't a very insensitive type game being released at a very inappropriate time, given the recent school shootings.

Couldn't we say the same of Super Columbine Massacre RPG? At least this game isn't directly based off of a real crime and gives players an opportunity to play as a SWAT team member who takes the shooter down. It's no different than playing Counter-Strike, where one team are terrorists and the other team is counter-terrorists.

Agreed.

All I was trying to say was the game's designers had to know that releasing the game right on the heels of the latest school shootings was going to gain attention and a ton of shit thrown their way.

True, but the "latest school shooting" happens really often now. The second season of 13 Reasons Why (which features a school shooting plot) was released on the very same day as the shooting in Santa Fe. So I'm gonna give the developers the benefit of the doubt and say that the inappropriate timing was an accident.

QuestionMark wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

QuestionMark wrote:

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Tommy QTR wrote:

I can't believe people are trying to censor a video game now, how ridiculous can they get?

I'm on the fence.  You can't say this isn't a very insensitive type game being released at a very inappropriate time, given the recent school shootings.

Couldn't we say the same of Super Columbine Massacre RPG? At least this game isn't directly based off of a real crime and gives players an opportunity to play as a SWAT team member who takes the shooter down. It's no different than playing Counter-Strike, where one team are terrorists and the other team is counter-terrorists.

Agreed.

All I was trying to say was the game's designers had to know that releasing the game right on the heels of the latest school shootings was going to gain attention and a ton of shit thrown their way.

True, but the "latest school shooting" happens really often now. The second season of 13 Reasons Why (which features a school shooting plot) was released on the very same day as the shooting in Santa Fe. So I'm gonna give the developers the benefit of the doubt and say that the inappropriate timing was an accident.

True.
Again, I'm not saying they planned the release to fall so close to the recent shootings. I'm just saying that they shouldn't be surprised by the fall out and protests.

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This has already been banned.  I had actually heard about this on the radio on the way to work one day last week and by the time I left work, I had heard it was already banned.  When I heard about this, it actually brought to mind the episode of Black Mirror title San Junipero.  In this episode, people, living and dead, can go back in time to the time of their choosing and live in virtual reality.  I figured with the new VR systems out, it’s only a matter of time before someone makes an active shooter VR game.

c'mon what were they expecting? "This is America!"

Oh so they ban Active Shooter but yet they dont take hatred off of steam. LOL, fucking america filled with hypocrites. "Oh you wanna put a game on our service that lets players mass murder ok thats fine"
But then when the other developer purposes active shooter "YOU SICK BASTARD! NOT SCHOOL SHOOTINGS! THIS AINT A FUCKIN GAME!'
Oh america >X)

Ainjel wrote:

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This has already been banned.  I had actually heard about this on the radio on the way to work one day last week and by the time I left work, I had heard it was already banned.  

Hopefully it gets unbanned, like Hatred. I hate to see censorship win.

So valve did that too look good
Its just a game
I couls make a gmod map of a school shooting
Or spawn civilians in a school map
Or plah thqt columbine map

Apparently they took it down, but there might be some dregs on the web. Not sure.