A new mobile game has been released on Google Play Store inspired by the brutal war on gangs in El Salvador. 'PCT: Extracción' sees the user take the role of a specialist soldier tasked with clearing the streets of gang members.
The game which has similar gameplay mechanics to Mario is currently still in it’s beta stage but received over 10,000 downloads in the first week. It was developed by Restless Games Studio and was placed on the app store earlier this month, however it is only available in certain regions.
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The description of the game reads: “Be part of the history!
“Get into the shoes of a seasoned specialist soldier, an elite police element or the very general commander of the armed forces. The war against the evil gangs has begun!
“Discover the way to eliminate this plague from El Salvador. Are you ready for the mission?”
What happened in El Salvador?
Last year, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele made headlines when he announced the controversial plan to arrest thousands of people believed to be affiliated with gangs in a radical response to a rise in crime and deaths in the country.
In March 2022, a state of emergency was declared after three days of violence saw 87 people killed which Bukele blamed on the notorious MS13 gang. The crackdown which was known as Régimen de Excepción - or State of Exception in English - began soon after.
Later that year in December, videos of heavily tattooed gang members being transferred to a mega prison with their hands tied wearing nothing but underwear went viral to polarising effect.
The striking footage which also showed hundreds of gang members with their shaved heads being controlled by the countries soldiers received praise from commentators for it’s strict handling on crime while human rights activists voiced their concern, describing the arrests as arbitrary with multiple women, men and children also arrested.
Some of the gang members have been placed in the 'Terrorism Confinement Center' which is the largest mega prison in the Americas. Opened in January this year, it is expected to hold up to 4,000 inmates.
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