“October 7th: A Game That Exposed the Gaming Community’s Strained Ties with Islam”

In November, amid a media frenzy, the digital storefront Steam withdrew the game Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque from its offerings in the UK.

This action followed pressure from the country’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) on Valve, the enterprise that operates and manages the Steam platform.

Given that Hamas is classified as a designated terrorist entity in the UK, it is unsurprising that counterterrorism authorities contacted Valve to demand its removal, as the game might be interpreted as an endorsement of the group by players and, as such, deemed unlawful.

First launched in 2022, the game permits players to assume the role of a Palestinian fighter assigned with safeguarding the Old City of Jerusalem from Israeli forces.

In November 2024, the game was updated again by its Brazilian creator, featuring an extension titled “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”.

The title indicates that this update allows players to simulate the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel that occurred on 7 October 2023.

Game footage captures fighters breaching Israeli military installations and parachuting into combat, echoing the real-life assaults where Hamas operatives employed paragliders to penetrate Israeli military defenses isolating the besieged Gaza Strip from Israel.

The uproar surrounding the game was significant and effective in prompting its removal from Steam, yet it also sparked allegations of hypocrisy.

Video games have a rich history of challenging norms, particularly concerning violence perceived as “terroristic”.

The notorious “No Russian” mission in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 permitted players to engage in a shooting spree at a Moscow international airport, resulting in numerous civilian casualties.

Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto series also presents a wide range of violent scenarios, including the slaughter of unarmed citizens, destruction of airplanes, and assault on military facilities and law enforcement.

The tech news outlet 404 Media contacted developer Nidal Nijm concerning Fursan al-Aqsa and its ensuing prohibition.

“Based on their flawed reasoning, the latest Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 should also be prohibited as players control an American soldier who goes to Iraq to kill Iraqi individuals. What I can assert is that we clearly observe the double standards,” Nijm remarked.

Gaming and Islam, a strained history

Similar to their colleagues in Hollywood, video game developers have frequently employed stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims in their creations, along with NPCs (non-playable characters) meant as mere cannon fodder.

The Call of Duty franchise is infamous for its controversies surrounding Muslims and Arabs.

In addition to battling Arabs, the 2021 release Vanguard featured an image of a torn Quran on the ground, stained with blood during one of its missions.

The aforementioned Modern Warfare 2 ignited controversy by seemingly conflating Pakistan with an Arab nation. Several missions include Arabic signage and posters in the Pakistani city of Karachi, where Arabic is not a native language.

Researchers Tanner Mirrlees and Taha Ibaid from Ontario Tech University documented the enduring depiction of Arabs and Muslims as the “default” adversary in video games in a 2021 investigation published in the Islamophobia Studies Journal. This peer-reviewed publication is produced by the Center for Race and Gender at the University of California, Berkeley.

Mirrlees and Ibaid pinpointed and examined five dominant stereotypes prevalent in video games: the “Arab”, “foreign”, “violent”, “terroristic”, and “anti-American” archetypes.

Altogether, these stereotypes contribute to what the researchers refer to as a “mythical Muslim”, a simplified caricature that has become a fixture in mainstream media, reinforced by the convergence of these stereotypes.

Their research also emphasizes that video games frequently immerse players in “patriarchal fantasies” of “militarised combat”.

“masculinity”, a prevalent motif in first-person shooter games. 

Among the games analyzed were the Conflict: Desert Storm series, Full Spectrum Warrior, Battlefield 3, Army of Two and the 2010 revival of Medal of Honor. 

However, it isn’t just high-budget military shooters that have a track record of anti-Muslim themes. 

The horror game Resident Evil 5 featured an image where the protagonist stands by a shelf containing a book with a cover similar to the design of a Quran placed on the floor. 

Another Capcom title, Devil May Cry 3, included a scene in which the entrance to the Kaaba, the most sacred site in Islam, opens and reveals a hellish landscape. 

Smaller games have also taken advantage of Islamophobic clichés to various extents. The 2008 PC game Muslim Massacre infamously prompted players to shoot any Muslim figures that appeared on screen. Likewise, Miniclip, once prized for its lively, straightforward games, hosted the flash-based Spec Ops: War on Terrorism in 2001.

This game required players to target Arab-like characters and concluded with a brawl allowing players to knock out Osama bin Laden. 

More recently, Six Days in Fallujah, released in early access in 2024, has faced backlash for its campaign viewed through the lens of American soldiers during the Iraq War.

The raw nerve of current events

Video games frequently grapple with recent or ongoing incidents, a challenge rooted in the medium’s interactive nature and the charged emotional context of ongoing disputes.

The shock factor of Fursan al-Aqsa may have been intensified by the game’s connection to the events of October 2023.

This factor might clarify why the latest Call of Duty games have heavily relied on either fictionalized history, such as the Cold War, or imaginative representations of the imminent future.

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Real-life heroes and villains are often not as clear-cut as they are depicted in the conventional gaming experience.

Yet, the distance that history affords means past conflicts are generally considered ‘safe’ territories to explore for the gaming realm. 

The Wolfenstein series allows a player to delve into visceral gameplay when eliminating Nazis, arguably the most comfortable category of antagonist in gaming.

A recent Indiana Jones game steers clear of contemporary stereotypes and utilizes the Nazis as foes, just like in the films. 

Nonetheless, such safe choices can come at a cost. Few games endeavor to infuse emotional complexity into the conflicts they portray. 

A noteworthy instance of such depth was present in the Brothers in Arms series, which was thoroughly researched and offered documentary insights for the context of its WWII backdrop, a rarity among action games.

The necessity for diverse storytelling

Increased diversity is indeed bringing changes to video games, albeit gradually. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise has showcased numerous entries with Muslim main characters, reflecting the company’s own diversity and acknowledging the advantages it confers. 

The developer’s latest title, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, is set in Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age, a largely unexplored setting in popular culture. 

A rarity in the gaming industry, the company once operated a studio in the Moroccan city of Casablanca until 2016. 

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Smaller indicators of awareness have not gone unnoticed. Insomniac’s 2018 Spider-Man game featured Spidey nodding appreciatively when a Muslim character in a headscarf declines a hug aligned with her cultural values but touches her heart as a gesture of gratitude.

Inclusion or awareness of Islam solely for appearances is not always straightforward, however. 

In 2008, Sony’s pioneering LittleBigPlanet included a track by the recently passed Malian musician Toumani Diabate. 

The song was promptly removed prior to the game’s full release in both digital and physical formats due to its lyrics containing references to the Quran.

Islam is not a uniform entity, and while certain factions such as Sufis integrate religious practice with activities like singing, many other groups around the globe find this offensive.

Previously, European and American gaming studios embraced diversity not just to enrich their teams but also to foster creative innovation, an essential component for crafting successful video games. 

Nonetheless, in recent times, numerous firms have shifted toward downsizing their workforce and emphasizing remakes and remasters of older titles to enhance their profits. 

This transformation has marginalized smaller, more daring projects that may have flourished a decade or two ago, as the escalating expenses and extended timelines necessary for developing large-scale games have rendered such ventures less appealing.

This signifies a significant shift in the gaming sector, where ‘bean counters’ are making critical decisions regarding what gets produced instead of visionary storytellers.

The consequence is that we are all becoming culturally impoverished, and the rippling effects of this will manifest in various ways in the years ahead.

In practical terms, that implies gamers cannot anticipate the termination of the tradition of offensive portrayals to occur anytime soon.