Did you know there was a game about Trayvon Martin on the Google Play store? Well, it didn't actually use Martin's surname, but it did feature a hooded sweatshirt wearing, weapon-wielding main character who bore resemblance to the now deceased 17-year-old. The game was called Angry Trayvon and apparently it drew enough criticism to convince the developer to remove it from the Google Play store.
"The people spoke out therefore this game was removed from the app stores," a note posted to the game's Facebook page (since removed) read. "Sorry for the inconvenience as this was just an action game for entertainment. This was by no means a racist game. Nonetheless, it was removed as will this page and anything associated with the game will be removed."
"Trayvon is angry and nobody can stop him from completing his world tour of revenge on the bad guys who terrorize cities everyday," the game's description on the Google Play site read. "Use a variety of weapons to demolish Trayvon's attackers in various cities around the world. As you complete a level, you will notice more bad guys coming at Trayvon at a faster pace. … If you want to dominate the leaderboards across the world, then make sure you collect the money the bad guys will drop once you kill them."
The game's removal came less than a day after a Change.org petition was launched, asking Google Play to pull the game.
"This application unnecessarily promotes violence and exploits the unfortunate death of Trayvon Martin. I am sure his parents [would] not appreciate the image of their son as a gun toting vigilante. The death of this young man is NOT A GAME," read the petition, which is now closed.
"This developer is using the Google Marketplace to exploit the death of an unarmed teen for profit while simultaneously promoting violence. Given the racial and social climate surrounding this issue and the unfair depiction of a deceased minor who perished as a result of gun violence, we are asking that this application be moved from the Google Play marketplace immediately."
I haven't personally played the game, but it seems like one of those things created out of poor taste. It's unclear how many people downloaded the Angry Trayvon game before it was pulled, but Fast Company notes more than 600 of the 700 people that reviewed it gave it one star, the lowest rating possible.
