The video game distribution service Steam has come under fire for platforming a controversial game that lets people play as Palestinian gunmen who are shooting up invading Israeli soldiers. The first-person shooter, released March 31 and dubbed Toofan AlAqsa, is described on Steam’s website as a game about “protecting AlAqsa and Palestine” — ostensibly from the Israel Defense Forces. “You can upgrade your abilities and kill the enemies faster,” the free game’s description reads. “Finish all levels and free Palestine. This is for the support of Palestine #FreePalestine.”
On Tuesday, an account on Twitter named “StopAntisemitism” put social media’s spotlight on the game and its violent message. “Because there’s not enough violence propagated against Jews worldwide, @Steam thought it would be a great idea to platform a game aimed at shooting Jews,” the account said. Some posters were incensed and called for gamers to take their money elsewhere. “Boycott immediately,” wrote user @afromike76.
Others worried that the game’s developer, Digital Dimension LLC, could have some ulterior motive. “Besides the obvious glorification of terrorism, these applications developed by terror orgs often install malicious software as well,” wrote @alinaghu2018. “Steam has a responsibility to remove these to protect its users.”
Some even said this wasn’t the first time Steam had ignored worries over gaming content — Twitter poster NeraBerg13 said the company in the past hosted a game that’s “entirely based on killing Jews.” “Reported countless times, and they do nothing,” the poster continued. “There was even a game that fully promoted Nazi ideology in Patch notes that it took ages to do anything about.”
Some gamers who reviewed Toofan AlAqsa on Steam’s site bashed it for its poor gameplay — among other things. “Game looks like a joke,” one player said. “Starts running really shady process in your PC too when you open the game. I don’t know how do they allow this things to be on store.” Others reveled in it, and spewed antisemitic hate on the review page. “Simple game where you shoot Satan’s chosen pedophiles who came from East Europe and Khazar, faked history to steal lands, homes and oil while pretending to be Js,” wrote a user called “Zera of Palestein.”
Representatives for Steam’s parent company, the Valve Corporation, did not respond to multiple requests for comment from The Post.
