The ill-fated procedurally generated tactical shooter, Six Days in Fallujah, will be released on Steam later this month.
We can hardly believe it, but it’s true! Six Days in Fallujah, the controversial tactical shooter video game set during one of the bloodiest operations of the Iraq war nearly 20 years ago, got a surprise launch date on Wednesday: it’s coming on June 22. It’s an early access release for Windows PC via Steam. The June 22 release will include four cooperative four-player missions.
“These missions are set in urban maps that are generated procedurally every time the game is played, to recreate the uncertainty of combat, along with unlimited replayability,” according to a statement from developer Highwire Games and publisher Victura.
The trailer, released Wednesday, illustrates the gameplay of Six Days in Fallujah. And it features the voice-overs of American soldiers who fought there. The trailer notes that the operation it depicts – the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004 – was “the largest urban assault since 1968” (the year the North Vietnamese army launched its infamous Tet Offensive.)
Players will be able to play “cooperatively as special operations or Iraqi soldiers fighting alongside coalition forces, and players will begin to encounter civilians as the battle progresses,” according to Victura’s statement. More cooperative missions are planned for the early access period. Among them are “story campaign missions recreating real stories from the Second Battle of Fallujah from the perspective of both coalition forces and Iraqi civilians.”
It is clear that not only were many Iraqi civilians killed in the door-to-door fighting (the International Red Cross counted 800). The operation continues to traumatise many US soldiers and Marines who survived. Six Days in Fallujah was announced back in 2009 as a collaboration between Atomic Games and Konami.
The mainstream media immediately and harshly criticised it, leading to Konami pulling out of the project and Atomic Games going bankrupt two years later.
Highwire Games picked up the project in 2021. Jaime Griesemer, the game designer behind the Halo and Infamous franchises, founded the studio. Other Highwire developers include Jared Noftle, co-founder of Airtight Games (Murdered: Soul Suspect, Dark Void). Also, Marty O’Donnell, audio director and composer for the Halo and Destiny franchises. He is also the former design director, character, vehicle and weapon designer for several Bungie titles.
Victura was founded by Peter Tamte, former Vice President of Bungie Studios. He was involved in the original Six Days in Fallujah.
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