Osama Bin Laden's hideout to feature in video game

The hideout house of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan

A downloadable map featuring Osama Bin Laden's hideout has been developed for the video game Counter-Strike: Source.

Created by developer Fletch, the software map is called fy-abbottabad after the town in Pakistan where the al-Qaeda leader was found in hiding.

He was killed during a raid by elite US Navy Seals on Monday 2 May.

The map features intricate details of Bin Laden's $250,000 compound but does not let gamers access the buildings.

'Bad taste'?

In an online blog Fletch rejected criticism that it was too soon after Bin Laden's death to create such a map.

"What a lot of people don't understand is that the only thing this map has in common with Osama is location," he said.

"I can see why people would think it is in bad taste, but honestly if that's your opinion you may as well protest the whole game (as well as many others)."

Since being made available on 7 May it's been downloaded more than 9,000 times.

See screen shots of the game

US-based games company Valve Software is behind Counter-Strike, which lets gamers play different scenarios online through their home computers.

Updated version

People can opt to take on the role of terrorists or counterterrorist officers, with missions like saving hostages or carrying out assassinations.

According to a recent blog post Fletch says the current map is only an early version of his final idea which will be updated shortly.

He wrote: "Anyway, on to the real update. de-abbottabad is close to completion.

"I find it a lot more enjoyable than this (fy_) version.

"The idea is that the T's (terrorists) have returned to destroy sensitive information before it can be located and taken away."