MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands ‘Counter Strike’ online game has ‘British terrorists’ eliminated by ‘Argentine patriots’

The game starts at the Argentine cemetery in Darwin and continues in Stanley

An Argentine company has developed a map for the popular online game Counter Strike in which players fight British “terrorists” on the Falkland Islands. The setting created by Dattatec.com has clocked more than 9,000 downloads in a few hours, after “going viral”.

Despite the pro-Argentina stance of the game, the developers say they mean no disrespect.

Argentina claims sovereignty over the Falklands, but last month Islanders with a massive 92% turnout voted overwhelmingly to remain British.

The game opens with a promotional video that says “in 1982, Argentines fought the English to claim back the sovereignty of the Malvinas”.

As in any Counter Strike game, there are two opposing groups of four players: police and terrorists. In the Falklands version, the Argentines are the police and start the game in the Argentine Cemetery. Their foes have their base in Port Stanley, the Falklands capital, but it is identified with its Argentine name, Puerto Argentino.

The Argentine web hosting company responsible for the online game told the BBC in Spanish it was not seeking controversy, but wanted to honour Argentine troops who died in the 1982 Falklands conflict.

“It's a tribute. We wanted to honour our fallen heroes. We went to the Malvinas last year and deposited a bottle in the cemetery, full of messages people left for the soldiers,” Dattatec press officer Fernando Llorente told the BBC.

Local landmarks are reproduced in the game, but no Union Jack flags can be seen.

“In the Malvinas map, there are no English flags on show due to the respect, glory and honour to the fallen,” the company's press release says.

The game's release comes amid tension over the Islands, as Argentina continues its diplomatic campaign for sovereignty. On Tuesday, Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman asked the United Nations to continue with his ‘good offices’ in the dispute.

In a two-day referendum on the Falkland Islands political status and future held March 10/11 just three residents out of 1,517 cast votes against remaining British, which does not mean they are pro-Argentina but rather pro-independence.