WASHINGTON: A US video game company has withdrawn a game that simulated a school shooting amid fierce criticism from parents of shooting victims and from politicians.
The game, “Active Shooter,” was to be released by Valve Corp. of Bellevue, Washington, on June 6 on its digital distribution platform Steam.
But Valve said in a statement to several media outlets that it was canceling the release of the game created by developer Revived Games and publisher ACID.
“This developer and publisher is, in fact, a person calling himself Ata Berdiyev, who had previously been removed last fall,” Valve said.
“Ata is a troll, with a history of customer abuse, publishing copyrighted material, and user review manipulation,” Valve said.
“We are not going to do business with people who act like this toward our customers or Valve.
“The broader conversation about Steam’s content policies is one that we’ll be addressing soon,” the company added.
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter, Jaime, 14, was killed in the February 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, welcomed the removal of the game as “amazing news.”
Guttenberg and other parents of Stoneman Douglas victims had called on Twitter for the game to be withdrawn.
“This company should face the wrath of everyone who cares about school and public safety and it should start immediately,” Guttenberg said.
“It’s disgusting that Valve Corp. is trying to profit from the glamorization of tragedies affecting our schools across the country,” said Ryan Petty, whose 14-year-old daughter Alaina died in Parkland.
“Keeping our kids safe is a real issue affecting our communities and is in no way a ‘game.’“
A trailer for “Active Shooter” opens with the player as a SWAT member entering a school to tackle a shooter, before switching to the perspective of the attacker.
It ends with a trail of students’ bodies littering an auditorium as a stats box keeps count of the numbers of police and civilians killed.
An online petition by the activist group Change.org urging the game distributor not to launch the game drew nearly 200,000 signatures.
Parkland students launched a grassroots campaign for tighter gun control following the shooting at their school which left 14 students and three adults dead.
A disclaimer by the game developer, Revived Games, said the game “is meant solely for entertainment purposes and simulation.”
“Revived Games believes violence and inappropriate actions belong in video games and not real world, and insists that in no event should anyone attempt to recreate or mimic any of the actions, events or situations occurring in the game,” it said.
“If you feel like hurting someone or people around you, please seek help from local psychiatrists or dial 911 (or applicable).”
Ten people were killed in a school shooting in Texas on May 18 by a heavily armed 17-year-old classmate.
School shooter video game withdrawn amid criticism from parents
School shooter video game withdrawn amid criticism from parents
- The game, “Active Shooter,” was to be released by Valve Corp of Bellevue, Washington
- A trailer for “Active Shooter” opens with the player as a SWAT member entering a school to tackle a shooter, before switching to the perspective of the attacker
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Meta to charge Arab advertisers extra fee for reaching European audiences
- US tech giant told advertisers it will add fees ranging from 2 to 5 percent on image and video ads delivered on its platforms to offset digital service taxes
- Charges are determined by where the audience is located, not where the advertiser is based
LONDON: Meta will from July 1 impose location-based surcharges on advertisers targeting audiences in six European countries, a move that will directly affect Arab businesses that run campaigns across the continent.
The US tech giant announced it will add fees ranging from 2 to 5 percent on image and video ads delivered on its platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to offset digital service taxes imposed by individual governments.
Crucially, the charges are determined by where the audience is located, not where the advertiser is based.
That means Saudi, Emirati, Egyptian or other Arab companies paying to reach consumers in the UK, France or Italy will face the additional costs regardless of their own country’s tax arrangements with Meta.
Fees will apply at 2 percent for ads reaching UK audiences, 3 percent for France, Italy and Spain, and 5 percent for Austria and Turkiye.
“If you deliver $100 in ads to Italy, where there is a 3% location fee, you will be charged $100 (ad delivery), plus $3 (location fee), for $103 total,” the company wrote in an email to an advertiser initially reported by Bloomberg. “Note that any applicable VAT will be calculated on top of the total amount.”
The taxes have been introduced at different points, starting with France in 2019, though not the EU as a bloc.
Many tech companies report substantial sales in Europe and millions of users but pay minimal tax on profits. The goal is to claw back locally derived economic value, Bloomberg reported.
The move follows similar decisions by Google and Amazon, which have also begun passing European digital tax costs on to advertisers.
For Arab brands with growing European footprints, particularly in fashion, travel, hospitality and media, the new fees add another layer of cost to campaigns already subject to currency and targeting complexities.
Digital services taxes, levied as a percentage of revenues earned by major tech platforms in individual countries, have drawn criticism from Washington, which argues they unfairly target US companies.
Meta has been reached for comments.
