Project Syria, a virtual reality experience created by immersive journalism progenitor Nonny de la Pena about child refugees, went live on Steam this week to mostly racist and politically vitriolic reviews.
The free experience was created in 2014 for the World Economic Forum to showcase the plight of children fleeing Syria. It has been shown at events in Hong Kong, London, Sheffield and New York and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, all to overwhelmingly positive reactions.
But a majority of the 33 Steam users who have written reviews about the experience are less than happy to find Project Syria in the Steam store.
“THIS SHOULD NOT ♥♥♥♥IN BE ON STEAM, A GAMING PLATFORM NOT A POLITICAL PLATFORM,” one user wrote in all caps.
“Leftist propaganda,” wrote another.
“This disgusts me,” a third wrote.
Many of the other reviews were simply racist tirades.
The short experience, which can be viewed using Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, opens up on a scene of a child playing on a street corner in Syria when a missile strike hits. A voice over presents some of the facts surrounding Syrian refugees, in particular children refugees, as the user is dropped into several other scenes.
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Source: Polygon