Steam Removes A Game From Its UK Storefront Following An Anti-Terrorism Request
Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque has been removed from Steam in the UK.
Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, a game that centers around a Palestinian protagonist seeking revenge on Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been removed from Steam in the UK. The delisting of the game comes after Valve received a request from the UK’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) asking that it be blocked.
As reported by Eurogamer, while The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque is still available to buy on Steam in the US and various other countries, if you head to its store page in the UK, you’ll be met with an “Oops, sorry” message informing you that there has been an error. “We’ve received a request from authorities in the UK to block the game and have applied such country restrictions,” Valve wrote in an email to the game’s Brazilian-Palestinian sole developer, Nidal Nijm.
Nijm has responded to Valve, asking for a specific reason why their game has been removed from sale, claiming it to be no different from something like Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6. Valve responded by informing Nijm it had been contacted by CTIRU noting, “As with any authority for a region the [sic] oversees and governs what content can be made available, we have to comply with their requests.”
Sales Of The Knights Of The Al-Aqsa Mosque Have Been Blocked On Steam In The UK
A CTIRU spokesperson explained in an email to 404 that it cannot disclose the specific content from The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque that has resulted in the governing body requesting that the game be blocked from sale in the UK. However, Nijm believes political reasons are behind their game being banned in Britain. “On their flawed logic, the most recent Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 should be banned as well. As you play as an American soldier and go to Iraq to kill Iraqi people” Nijm told 404.
The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque isn’t a new game, nor is this the first time Nijm has been faced with it being made unavailable in certain parts of the world. Two months ahead of its planned December 2021 launch, the game was delisted by Steam due to concerns from an Israeli advocacy group that it may be in breach of anti-terrorism laws in the US. The game was eventually released in April 2022 and returned to Steam in December 2023.
An update to The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque rolled out towards the end of 2023 may well be to blame for the UK government requesting it be banned from sale. The update includes sections inspired by the Hamas attacks on Israel carried out last year, as well as other events from the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. Nijm has denied all claims that their game promotes violence or terrorism against Israeli people.
