The feud between Ukraine and Russia grazed into various sectors. One of them nudged the game industry, in which Ukraine asked the world to block a game called Atomic Heart.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, has sent love letters to Sony, Microsoft and Valve. He asked the three to block the circulation of the game.
As you know, Sony has a PlayStation Store, Xbox with a Microsoft Store, and Valve relies on Steam to distribute games to its fans. Fedorov wants them to ban Atomic Heart from circulating in each of the game's trading windows.
Quoted from The Gamer, Tuesday (7/3/2023), Fedorov said that Russia is trying to take advantage of the gaming industry, to carry out digital propaganda in a new way. It is known that this game developer comes from Russia, named Mundfish, which is currently headquartered in Cyprus.
Therefore, according to Fedorov, there would be potential for Mundfish to finance Russia's war against Ukraine. He said the money could come from selling the game.
"Official request to ban the sale of the game Atomic Heart. I believe that none of these businesses support bloody regimes, murder or romanticize communism. A new level of Russian digital propaganda uses the gaming industry," Fedorov wrote on Twitter.
Official requests to ban selling Atomic Heart game. I do believe neither of these businesses support bloody regimes, murders or romanticizing communism. Brand new level of Russian digital propaganda – using gaming industry.@Sony @PlayStation @Microsoft @Xbox @valvesoftware @Steam pic.twitter.com/DpaNO57bZC
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 3, 2023
From his post on Elon Musk's social media, it can be seen that Fedorov sent a letter to high-ranking video game giants. There are big names like CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Jim Ryan, then President and CEO of Sony Corporation, Kenichiro Yoshida, then Vice Chair and President of Microsoft Corporation, Brad Smith, and finally CEO of Valve Corporation, Gabe Newell.
His post has landed on Twitter since March 3, 2023. However, after searching, we still found Atomic Heart on Steam, PlayStation Store, and also the Microsoft Store.
It is still unknown whether this game will actually disappear or not. So far, the three video game giants who have sent letters have yet to respond