Fallujah developer downsizes

In early April, Konami announced that it would be publishing Atomic Games' Six Days in Fallujah, a shooter recounting the real-life events of the Battle of Fallujah. By month's end, the publisher had pulled out of the project, following outraged reactions from people who viewed the game as exploiting real-life strife and suffering for financial gain.

Atomic soldiered on with the project in search of a new publisher, but today the developer acknowledged a major setback for the game.

"Due to a mixture of fears about the edgy subject matter of Six Days in Fallujah, as well as low video game sales this summer, we have been unable to secure full-scale funding from a major publisher for Six Days in Fallujah," the studio said in a statement. "This has caused us to reduce the size of our studio today."

Development on the game will continue, albeit with a smaller team. Funding for the game will be provided by Atomic Games sister company Destineer.

"We wish to assure the dozens of Marine veterans who have collectively invested hundreds of hours in this project that, while we have been badly wounded, we will fight on," the studio's statement said. "The stories of your brothers' courage and sacrifice in Fallujah must be shared with the world."

Before the layoffs, Atomic had a team of 75 people working to complete the game. The developer gave no indication as to how many are still with the team, but it did encourage other studios to use the contact information on its Web site to get in touch with "the many talented and loyal staff who are affected." (Emphasis added.)

For more on Six Days in Fallujah, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.