Religious warfare in violent games

September 2006, Afkar Media, a Syrian game company, released a PC Real Time Strategy (RTS) game to positively portray Islam during the first hundred years of its existence. Called Quraish (according to the official website; the Christian Science Monitor calls it Al-Quraysh), players can choose to be one of five powers, including the Romans, the Persians, and a fledgling Muslim empire.

Afkar Media isn’t a new company, having also released Under Siege, a first/third person shooter that follows the Israeli/Palestinian conflict from a Muslim point of view. Both of these games are intended to show Muslims in a more positive light, portraying them as protagonists.

Radwan Kasmiya, executive manager of Afkar Media, believes that …