PayPal move blocks sales of school shooting video game

The developer of a school shooting video game condemned by parents of slain children has lost the ability to sell its products online after being dumped by PayPal.

FILE - This file screen shot taken from YouTube shows a still frame from the video game "Active Shooter." Acid Software, the developer of the school shooting video game condemned by parents of slain children, has lost the ability to sell the game online after being dumped by PayPal. (YouTube via AP, File)

Acid Software said Tuesday that purchases of "Active Shooter" were "temporarily disabled" as its representatives tried to resolve the issues with PayPal. Acid's postings on Twitter and an online bulletin board included the hashtags "QuitCensoringUs," ''FreedomOfExpression" and "WeWillBeBack."

PayPal confirmed it closed the account.

"PayPal has a longstanding, well-defined and consistently enforced Acceptable Use Policy, and regardless of the individual or organization in question, we work to ensure that our services are not used to accept payments for activities that promote violence," the company, based in San Jose, California, said in a statement Wednesday.

"Active Shooter" is branded as a "SWAT simulator" that lets players choose between being an active shooter terrorizing a school or the SWAT team responding to the shooting. Players can choose a gun, grenade or knife, and civilian and police death totals are shown on the screen. Acid was selling an early version of the game online for $20 and plans to release a new version early next month.

Acid recently set up two websites for "Active Shooter" after the game was removed from the webpages of video game marketplace Steam and crowdfunding site Indiegogo. The removals followed complaints and online petitions by anti-gun violence advocates including parents of children killed in school shootings in Parkland, Florida, where 17 students and staff died in February, and Newtown, Connecticut, where 26 children and staff died in 2012.

A company that hosted the new websites removed them last week after receiving similar complaints. But Acid got the sites back up and running by switching to Russian servers, said an Acid representative, Ata Berdyev, of Seattle.

"Active Shooter" was created by Anton Makarevskiy, a 21-year-old developer from Moscow, Russia, and is being marketed by his entity Acid Software. Berdyev is helping Makarevskiy promote the game.

Berdyev said Wednesday that the future of the game could now be in doubt.

"Seems like everyone in US trying to censor us, whilst not explaining what exactly we are violating," Berdyev said in a message to The Associated Press.

PAYSON, Utah (AP) — Actor Kevin Bacon on Saturday returned to the Utah high school where the cult classic movie “Footloose” was filmed more than 40 years.

Bacon danced his way to a stage on a Payson High School athletic field Saturday to greet students before what likely was the final prom held at the school, which is set to be torn down next spring.

“You talked me into it," Bacon said, according to video posted by Salt Lake City's ABC 4. “It’s great to see that kind of commitment to anything. I also think that it’s amazing to see the power that this movie has had to bring people together.”

Bacon starred in “Footloose” as a Chicago teen who moved to a small town and fought its ban on dancing. Payson High School students ended Saturday with a “Footloose”-themed prom, just as the movie ended.

About 21,000 people live in Payson, which is about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Principal Jesse Sorenson said students for years have tried to persuade Bacon to visit.

What started as lighthearted appeals on social media turned into a community wide campaign to partner with Bacon's charity, Sorenson said. Students agreed to help put together 5,000 care packages for the charity, SixDegrees, to convince Bacon to visit.

Students for weeks wrote hopeful messages for the eventual owners of each of the care packages and worked with the Utah Film Commission and SixDegrees to raise money and donations of toiletries, clothing and other items to go in the backpacks, Sorenson said.

On Saturday, Bacon helped fill the bags alongside what Sorenson estimated was about 700 students and 300 community members.

Sorenson, who graduated from Payson High School in 1995, said DJs always play the song “Footloose” at proms, and students recreate the film's iconic dance. Older residents tell stories of being an extra in the film and delight in pointing out spots in Payson shown in the movie, he said.

“It's something they can be proud of, and it’s fun for them,” the principal said.

In this photo provided by Jesse Sorenson, actor Kevin Bacon, center, helps fill care packages for his charity, Saturday, April 20, 2024, in Payson, Utah, while visiting the Utah high school where cult classic "Footloose," was filmed. (Jesse Sorenson via AP)