White House Correspondents' Dinner Shooting Suspect Identified as Indie Game Developer With Steam Game

Most people don't find out about a game because its developer allegedly tried to storm a presidential event. That's exactly what happened here.

Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from Torrance, California, was arrested on Saturday after police say he opened fire near a security checkpoint at the Washington Hilton hotel during the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said U.S. President Donald Trump and his officials were the "likely" intended targets. Allen now faces two charges: using a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

And yes, he had a Steam game.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Allen registered a trademark in 2019 for Bohrdom, a game he released on Steam back on December 20, 2018. His LinkedIn page listed him as a self-employed "indie game developer," active since September 2018. His own description? "Mechanical engineer and computer scientist by degree, independent game developer by experience, teacher by birth." He also described the game as built in C++ with over 750 custom graphics and a custom 2D elastic collision physics engine. Not a small project, by any measure.

Bohrdom's Steam page describes it as a "skill-based, non-violent asymmetrical fighting game loosely derived from a chemistry model." The description adds that players who love, or hate, chemistry will "probably enjoy this." A second game called "First Law" was listed as being in development on his LinkedIn page, though no release appears to have happened.

The Steam Numbers

Before Saturday, Bohrdom had a concurrent peak of just one or two players across its entire existence. On Sunday, April 26, that figure jumped to 22. Still tiny by any standard, but a significant spike given the circumstances.

The review situation tells a similar story. Two user reviews existed before Sunday. Then 125 piled in over 24 hours: 70 positive, 55 negative, most from accounts with little to no playtime. The current top review reads: "when I'm in a 'weirdest way to get publicity for my game' competition and my opponent is this developer."

The Steam Discussions page has seen dozens of threads opened in the last day, most filled with commentary on the shooting itself rather than anything to do with the game.

Bohrdom was priced at $2, but purchasing and downloading the game appears to have been disabled since the news broke. IGN has reached out to Steam for comment.

The whole situation is grim, and worth being clear: none of this is about the game. Bohrdom being obscure or strange or whatever people think of it is beside the point. The Steam page being flooded and the discussions being filled with noise is a predictable internet reaction, but not a particularly useful one.

Allen is expected to be formally charged in federal court.