Long-in-development (and highly controversial) first-person shooter Six Days in Fallujah is coming to PC via Steam Early Access on June 22, 2023, publisher Victura and developer Highwire Games announced. It will cost $39.99 and comes with four cooperative four-player missions, with each set in procedurally generated maps in order to “recreate the uncertainty of combat along with unlimited replayability.” The team says the goal is to give players a highly realistic tactical shooter experience based on true stories. You can see how Six Days in Fallujah is shaping up ahead of its early access launch next month in the trailer below.
In early access at launch, Six Days in Fallujah will allow players to focus on the experience of the US Marine fireteams on their first day of battle. As early access continues, Victura and Highwire expect to add the ability to play cooperatively as special operations or Iraqi soldiers fighting alongside coalition forces. There are also plans to release additional co-op missions, as well as story campaign missions that recreate Second Battle of Fallujah conflicts from various battlefield perspectives.
Six Days in Fallujah was originally announced to be published by Konami back in 2009, before criticism over its subject material, which adapts the real-life story of the Second Battle of Fallujah, led the company to pull out. Development on Six Days in Fallujah would pick up again in 2017 under Victura as publisher and Highwire as developer.
Controversy was kicked up again when Victura CEO Peter Tamte told Polygon in 2021 that Six Days in Fallujah is “not trying to make a political commentary about whether or not the war itself was a good or a bad idea.” Victura quickly walked back those comments, saying that it “understands the events recreated in Six Days in Fallujah are inseparable from politics.” However, much of the damage had already been done.
Six Days in Fallujah will give players a taste of its war story attempt when it comes to Steam Early Access next month. Victura and Highwire expect a full launch to arrive on both consoles and PC in 2024.
