An educational video game has been edited in response to a massive social media backlash over a scene depicting slaves being packed onto a slave ship like pieces in a puzzle-like game.
Here is a trailer for the game, in case you haven’t heard of it:
The creators of the game “Playing History: Slave Trade” removed a level Monday that featured black slave characters being dropped into a ship, in a style reminiscent of the video game “Tetris.”
“Apologies to people who were offended by us using game mechanics to underline the point of how inhumane slavery was,” read a statement posted on the game’s page on Steam. “The goal was to enlighten and educate people – not to get sidetracked discussing a small 15-second part of the game.”
The scene was also removed from the official trailer for the title, which was originally released by Denmark-based developer Serious Games Interactive in 2013.
“Slave Trade,” which is intended to teach children ages 11 to 14 about slavery in the 18th century, casts players for most of the game as a young slave steward named Putij, who serves on a ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
The game captured attention last week when it went on sale on Steam and was promptly chastised on social media for trivializing slavery by making it into a puzzle game. Serious Games founder Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen defended “Slave Trade” on Twitter at first, but then deleted his account Tuesday.
While the “Tetris”-like slave-stacking level has been removed from the game, a talking mouse character who guides players still says at one point: “Slave traders didn’t look upon slaves as people but as a product. They therefore stacked the slaves on top of each other to get as many as possible shipped,” which still has some critics angry.
Other titles in the Serious Games’ “Playing History” series include “Playing History: Vikings” and “Playing History: The Plague.”
SOURCE: KOMO TV News, Seattle