'Active Shooter' Video Game Removed From Platform After Outrage

A video game that would allow players to act out an active shooter scenario from the point of view of the perpetrator has been pulled and the developer of the game has been removed from the online gaming platform "Steam."

Valve Corporation, the company that operates "Steam," said in a statement that the developer "Revived Games" and publisher "ACID" of the video game is a "troll with a history of customer abuse, publishing copyrighted material, and user review manipulation." Valve said the developer had previously been removed from the platform when he was operating under a different name.

"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," Valve said in a statement.

"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."

Valve Corporation came under fire from gun control activists and survivors for the Parkland school shooting for the game. A petition asking Valve to shut down the game was circulated and some encouraged people to contact the company directly.

"Shame on #ValveCorporation, its CEO @GabeNewell, and for-profit private sector partners and enablers, like @Apple, for developing, and planning to release a school shooting simulation game," Miami school superintendent Alberto Carvalho tweeted. "At any level, #ActiveShooter is an insult to decency. @MiamiHerald"

Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting, asked people to contact the company directly.

Shannon Watts, the founder of the pro-gun control group, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, questioned why the company thought the video game was an ok idea in the first place after news that it had been pulled.

The video game, titled "Active Shooter," was due to be released on June 6, according to The Guardian. The game was originally promoted as being from the point of view of an armed officer responding to a shooting but the developer later said he added the option to play as the shooter, according to The Guardian.

The Miami Herald reports that the game came with the following disclaimer, "Please do not take any of this seriously. This is only meant to be the simulation and nothing else. If you feel like hurting someone or people around you, please seek help from local psychiatrists or dial 911 (or applicable). Thank you."

Parkland survivor and gun control activist Emma González called on the company to shut down the game.

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