On June 6, the game Active Shooter will launch on Steam’s digital storefront. As the name implies, the game is about an active shooter at a school with players being given the option to play as a civilian, the shooter, or a swat member. Civilians must run and hide, while the shooter can chase and shoot teachers as they try to escape. Despite the fact that the game has not yet released, it has been the center of a much criticism and debate.

This may stem from the fact that America is currently averaging one school shooting every single week. While the debate about how to solve school shootings has little to do with video games, it does become a question of responsibility and tact when a game that actively promotes school shootings could go live on the most popular digital storefront in the world. The publisher, ACID, has recently taken to Steam to clarify their stance, stating that adding civilians and the active shooter to the game was an afterthought to improve choices for the player.

Abundantly clear from ACID’s response is that their understanding of the English language, as well as national politics, is spotty at best. In fact, the controversy around the game has encouraged political opinions to wade into a discussion about a game, which always ends as well as can be expected. While the vast majority of users are against the game, some have voiced their support. Many of these accounts are fresh and with no account activity, indicating that they may very well be trolls or political supporters with little concern for the gaming industry as a whole. While some valid points have been made, there have also been plenty of ridiculous arguments. The most compelling is perhaps that the kind of people who want to ban Active Shooter are “the same ones that got rid of the Pledge of Allegiance,” whatever that means.  

A much more obvious argument has to do with Steam’s policies regarding content. Valve very recently went after a number of adult game developers with titles out on Steam. The move was considered controversial because the games had all long ago had their adult content removed. The only way to access the adult content was through patches that could not be promoted on Steam. Valve has since walked back the restrictions they sent out to these companies, but it shows a curious shift within the organization.

Last year, Valve also removed hundreds of titles from their store due to asset flipping and quality issues. The games were all of incredibly poor quality and made using cheap, purchased assets that left the games without content and bug ridden. More than the controversy around Active Shooter’s content is the simple fact that it is another poorly made game using other’s assets, and for this reason alone it should be removed.

A brief look at publisher ACID and developer Revived Games’ other titles indicates that they are as toxic a developer as has ever existed. Their games are all made using what is known as asset flipping, which is the purchasing of pre-built assets from the open market. If that weren’t bad enough, the publisher and developer make sure to title their games controversial or click-bait taglines to draw views. Their other titles consist of games like Dab, Dance, & Twerk, Tyde Pod Challenge, and White Power: Pure Voltage. While some could make political connections between Active Shooter and White Power: Pure Voltage, there isn’t one. The only connection is in poor quality, as White Power is an asset flip of Cave Exploration Starter Kit and the name is only designed to entice controversy.

The choice is clear, and it has nothing to do with politics. Active Shooter deserves the controversy around it because Revived Games is a bad developer, making cheap, shoddy games and trying to capitalize on popular buzz words and topics. For now though, Valve has made no decision one way or another on what to do with the company or title.