ICON Park pauses target shooting game in Orlando after online criticism
ICON Park's new 'Bullseye Blast' game receives online backlash
A new laser gun game coming to Orlando's ICON Park is getting mixed reactions on social media. Bullseye Blast will be added to The Wheel and lets players scan the rooftops of ICON Park to find 50 strategically pre-selected targets. The concept didn't sit well with many online who blasted the new game as "insensitive."
ORLANDO, Fla. - A laser shooting game that allows guests to shoot at targets from The Wheel at ICON Park in Orlando will be paused for now and redesigned, the park announced on Saturday.
"Some non-guests and community members expressed that they considered the toy shooting device used to be insensitive," said William Wellons with Wellons Communications which represents ICON Park. "The attractions' industry has many similar games which use similar shooting devices, so that is what we were limited to when exploring the game. However, we believe that a device can and should be designed which does not offend anyone in the community. We look forward to leading this new innovation."
During the redesign, the current version of the game Bullseye Blast will be paused.
"Just like all electronic games are improved over time, we will pursue a new design that will deliver the same level of customized fun for guests, in a way that the entire community can embrace."
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The game allows players to scan the rooftops of ICON Park from a capsule on The Wheel to find 50 strategically pre-selected targets.
"To get the highest score possible, players need to hit as many of these as possible with their laser blaster during the 18-minute ride," ICON Park described on its website.
The concept didn't sit well with many online following the mass shootings recently in Uvalde, Texas and at a Buffalo, New York supermarket. One critic called the game "mass shooter training."
"Ahh yes, let’s allow tourists to pretend to snipe at a city that was FOREVER scarred and traumatized by an act of gun violence," one person wrote, referring to the devastating terror attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016.
Some people, however, argued that the concept is no different than Buzz Light Year’s Space Ranger Spin at Disney’s Magic Kingdom or Men In Black at Universal Studios.