Makers pull video game based on Pakistan school massacre

A video game set in a Pakistani school during a terror attack that killed 130 children in 2014 was taken down by its makers on Monday amid criticism of “poor taste.”

Pakistan Army Retribution, which appeared on the Google Play Store for several weeks, allowed players act as Pakistani soldiers in the December 2014 Peshawar Army Public School attack and fight against Taliban militants, The Guardian reported.

The game was part of a joint campaign by the Pakistani army and Punjab Information Technology Board, called the “Peaceful Pakistan campaign,” to mark the first anniversary of the the massacre.

Although the game did not initially get much attention, a negative review in Dawn, a leading Pakistani English-language newspaper, brought the game’s makers much negative press, reportedly leading them to pull it entirely from the marketplace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwXkCCU4YgY

In the review, the game was described as “failing on all fronts,” and it was noted that “The Peshawar attack was a tragedy that holds national significance since it sent the entire nation into trauma. Any recreation of the carnage that day seems insensitive.”

These sentiments were apparently shared by many, who expressed their distaste via social media sites.

The December 2014 attack began when seven Taliban gunmen, explosives strapped to their bodies, scaled a back wall using a ladder to get into the Peshawar Army Public School. Once inside, they made their way into the main auditorium where many students had gathered for an event.

Pakistani army troops arrive to conduct an operation at a school under attack by Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, Pakistan, Dec. 16, 2014. (photo credit: AP/Mohammad Sajjad)

The militants then made their way to the hall’s stage and started shooting at random. As students tried to flee for the doors, they were shot and killed. The military recovered about 100 bodies from the auditorium alone.

Umar Saif, chairman of the Punjab Information Technology Board, said that he gave the order to pull the game from the Google Play store immediately after he became aware of it on Monday.

The goal of the campaign, Saif Said, was to show children that “the best weapons are the pen and the book,” a message that was misunderstood by the third party company that created the game.

“We tried to the use the campaign to galvanize support for peaceful Pakistan but I guess we messed up with this particular game,” lamented Saif.

AFP and AP contributed to this report