Iranian game developer donating 1979 Revolution proceeds to ACLU to fight Trump's Muslim ban

An Iranian video game developer will donate proceeds from sales of historical adventure game 1979 Revolution: Black Friday to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to aid the fight against President Donald Trump's temporary ban on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries entering the United States.

Indie studio iNK Stories said in a statement that it "strongly opposes the divisive rhetoric and current immigration ban put in effect by Trump Administration," adding that the rulings are "grave and damaging".

Trump's executive order suspending the United States' refugee program and imposing a 90-day ban on people from Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Iraq. The move has come under heavy criticism from across the political spectrum in the US and beyond, with protests taking place around the world.

Non-partisan organisation the ACLU has been fighting to ban and plans to fight it further. Since the executive order was signed on Friday, it has received $24million (£19million) in donations.

1979 Revolution, which was released last year, is based on the events of the Iranian Revolution of the late 70s and casts players as a young photojournalist attempting to cover the events unfolding in the country he was born in.

Throughout, players make choices that impact the narrative of a game that owes a great deal to the recent work of Telltale Games.

The game's creator Navid Khonsari, who once worked on the Grand Theft Auto series and other Rockstar games and most recently worked on Resident Evil 7, was brandished a US spy by Iranian newspapers for making the game. The backlash against him is why the names of those who aided the game's development have not been made public.

In Iran, the game was also banned from sale.

In the same statement Khonsari said: "This is deeply personal, as my family made the hard decision to leave Iran after the revolution, to come to the West, which was the land of inclusion. Today, I feel like I am reliving history.

"While it's easy to be immobilised by hurt and hopelessness, I believe that now more than ever we are confronted with an obligation, where we must dig in, resist and unite.

"Silence is not an option – so I commend those in our community who are taking action and hope that other game developers and publishers will join in, as we partake in this crucial movement – coming from all religious, national, ethnic and generational backgrounds to denounce the ban – and stand with humanity, by saying that this is not right, willing to rise up against the injustice."

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