Video game simulating active shooter scenario pulled after backlash

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Bellevue-based video game company Valve has pulled the game "Active Shooter" from its online storefront.

The game was pulled after a mother from Mercer Island created an online petition that drew international support.

“It's horrific,” Stephanie Robinett said. “It's inappropriate.”

Robinett watched with horror when the wave of school shootings hit close to home - the Marysville Pilchuk High School shooting in 2014.

Just last Friday, there was another school shooting. This time, it was in Indiana. So when she learned that same day of a video game simulating a school shooting, she had to do something.

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“I feel a little bit scared every time I send my kids to school. So this is personal for me,” Robinett explained. “I couldn't believe any company would try to profit off the damage and destruction of school shootings.”

The game "Active Shooter" allows the player to either take the role of a SWAT officer or a gunman shooting civilians. It was set to be released on Steam, a digital distribution platform for video games, next week. Steam is run by Valve Corporation, which is headquartered in Bellevue.

“I want Valve to have some social responsibility,” Robinett added.

She created an online petition which, in four days, generated tens of thousands of signatures.

Late this afternoon, Doug Lombardi from Valve sent KIRO 7 this statement:

“We have removed the developer Revived Games and publisher ACID from Steam.

"This developer and publisher is, in fact, a person calling himself Ata Berdiyev, who had previously been removed last fall when he was operating as "[bc]Interactive" and "Elusive Team".

"Ata is a troll, with a history of customer abuse, publishing copyrighted material, and user review manipulation. His subsequent return under new business names was a fact that came to light as we investigated the controversy around his upcoming title. We are not going to do business with people who act like this towards our customers or Valve.

"The broader conversation about Steam's content policies is one that we'll be addressing soon.”

Robinett is glad Valve pulled the game. But she said the company is not off the hook.

“Thousands of people have been calling since Friday for them to pull the game. And whether or not they keep it on, they are profiting from this right now. This is free publicity for them,” Robinett said.

Cox Media Group