The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington, DC-based civil rights advocacy group for Muslims, is urging Valve, Microsoft, and Sony to deny distribution of the upcoming tactical FPS based on one of the bloodiest battles of the Iraq War, the Second Battle of Fallujah, entitled Six Days in Fallujah," which is based on one of the bloodiest battles of the Iraq War. [CAIR Research and Advocacy Coordinator Huzaifa Shahbaz said in a statement, "We urge Microsoft, Sony, and Valve to deny distribution of 'Six Days in Fallujah,' an Arab murder simulator that will only normalize violence against Muslims in America and around the world. We call on them to ban the distribution of Six Days in Fallujah. [The gaming industry must stop dehumanizing Muslims. Video games like 'Six Days in Fallujah' glorify the violence that has claimed the lives of hundreds of Iraqi civilians, justify the war in Iraq, and only reinforce anti-Muslim sentiment at a time when anti-Muslim bigotry continues to threaten human life."

Six Days in Fallujah was originally announced in 2009, but due to its controversial subject matter, publisher Konami pulled out of the project, effectively cancelling it. The developer, Atomic Games, was unable to find a new publisher and went out of business in 2011, but the website with its commitment to complete the game remains. in February 2021, Six Days was unexpectedly re-released, and development was reorganized by a new studio, Highwire Games and a new publisher, Victura, founded by former Atomic Games CEO Peter Tamte.

Highwire and Victura have described "Six Days" as a story "featuring military and civilian protagonists with diverse experiences and opinions about the war in Iraq" and a documentary that covers "many difficult topics, including the events and political decisions that led to the fighting in Fallujah and its aftermath."[5 It is described as a thoughtful game that includes segments. However, the game appears to be sanitized to some extent: for example, it has long been acknowledged that the U.S. used white phosphorus munitions as "incendiary" in the Battle of Fallujah, but players are not allowed to use them.

A larger complaint, however, is that Six Days presents a sympathetic, pro-American perspective on the fighting that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi civilians. Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad described "Six Days" as "a shallow attempt to explain the illegal Iraq war and recruit people to join the military." And as we noted in March, despite its purported commitment to authenticity and multiple perspectives, it "looks a lot like 'Call of Duty. The game is a tactical shooter built on the U.S. Marine Corps experience, and that seems to be truly reflected in the gameplay.

Six Days in Fallujah is expected to be released later this year, but there is no definite release date yet. You can wishlist it on Steam now; we asked Valve for their take on the game and will update if we hear back.