According to the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun, Konami has made the decision to pull the plug on Atomic Games" highly controversial Six Days in Fallujah. The Tokyo-based publisher behind games such as Metal Gear Solid, recently chose not to publish the ultrarealistic Iraq war shooter.
"After seeing the reaction to the video game in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and e-mail, we decided several days ago not to sell it."
Although Six Days in Fallujah was only revealed at the beginning of the month, the game has already drawn criticism from several groups of people including Stop the War Coalition, a British antiwar organization as well as families who had lost members in the Iraq war. Konami and Atomic Games attempted to defend the game by saying that it would be a "survival horror" title that would display the ugliness of the Iraq War. "We had intended to convey the reality of the battles to players so that they could feel what it was like to be there."
On Tuesday April 21st, Atomic Games president Peter Tamte told GameSpot that Konami"s decision not to publish the game had come as a total shock. "We were informed on Thursday night that Konami had decided to pull out of Six Days in Fallujah," he explained. "This caught us by surprise. Development of the game had been progressing very well and on schedule. We would very much like the opportunity to complete the game."