Valve Corporation, the developer of the digital gaming platform Steam, has removed a video game that glorifies Palestinian terrorism from its marketplace in the United Kingdom at the behest of the UK’s Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU).
The game, titled “Fursan Al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” was released on Steam in 2022 and allowed players to emulate the October 7 attack, one of the deadliest terror attacks in Israeli history. The game’s creator, Nidal Nijm, is a Palestinian-Brazilian who has ties to Hamas.
The game’s Steam page described the new mission, titled “Operation Toufan Al-Aqsa,” as a homage to Hamas’s name for the attack. The mission features terrorists paragliding into Israeli posts, female soldiers being captured, and widespread violence.
Valve contacted Nijm in October to inform him of the game’s removal from sale in the UK, citing regional content regulations. Nijm expressed disappointment and claimed that the removal is politically motivated.
The game has also been blocked in Germany and Australia due to age rating complications, and its YouTube account was deleted. Reviews of the game on Steam appear to be positive, but many focus on the political aspects rather than the gameplay.
Veteran videogame reviewer Emanuel Mailberg had a negative opinion of the game, calling it “a functional shooter at the most basic level” and stating that it “does nothing new or interesting” and “feels like the lowest form of shovelware.”
Valve did not respond to requests for comment.
