GamesFPSValve removes pro-Palestinian shooter from Steam after complaint from UK Counter-Terrorism police, dev says ‘we see clearly the double standards’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesFPSValve removes pro-Palestinian shooter from Steam after complaint from UK Counter-Terrorism police, dev says ‘we see clearly the double standards’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Nidal Njim)

Valve has removed a game from Steam in the UK in response to a request from the UK’s Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit, a body that polices extreme content on the internet (thanks, 404). The game in question is called Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, was released in 2022, and casts the player as a member of the Hamas group attacking Israeli targets.
The game’s developer, Nidal Nijm, makes the contradictory claim that players cannot carry out the latter act in-game and are also penalised for doing so.
Valve contacted Nijam on October 22 to inform him the game had been removed from sale. “We’ve received a request from authorities in the UK to block the game and have applied such country restrictions,” reads the text of the email.
The UK’s CTIRU has been in operation since 2010 and basically polices extremist material online. Members of the public can refer content to the unit, and it claims to have removed hundreds of thousands of pieces of extremist material from the internet. “We do not comment on specific content or any communication we may have with specific platforms or providers,” said a CTIRU spokesperson.
Fursan al-Aqsa has also been blocked in Germany and Australia, which its developer says is because he can’t afford to apply for an age rating. “The region lock of my game in the UK was clearly due to political reasons (they are accusing my game of being ‘terrorist’ propaganda)",Nijm told 404.
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