One figure in particular emerged as the leader of propaganda games development—Mahdi Jafari Jozani, a high-ranking member of the Basij.
Jozani’s first major title, Safir-e Eshgh, was released in 2020. Set during the Second Fitna—a civil war fought across the Islamic world in the seventh century—the role-playing game combined triple-A production values with hardcore Shia doctrine. A sequel, Mokhtar: The Season of Rebellion, was released in 2021. It was Jozani who led the development of Commander of the Resistance the following year.
In an interview with Middle East games website Bazinegar in 2022, Jozani said that he doesn’t just consider himself a producer, but a part of a new “discussion” on games. Despite the controversies surrounding Safir-e Eshgh, the fact that Iranians were talking about an Iranian game was, “in itself, a great achievement,” he said. Jozani…
