The Ministry of Digital Transformation will send an official letter to
Sony, Microsoft and Valve to ban the sale of Atomic Heart in Ukraine.

According to dev.ua, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Oleksandr
Borniakov commented on the game's release:

"We also call for limiting the distribution of this game in other
countries due to its toxicity, potential collection of user data and the
possibility of transferring it to third parties in Russia, as well as
the potential use of money raised from game purchases to wage war
against Ukraine."

Atomic Heart is a Russian game by Mundfish studio, sponsored by Russian
publisher Gaijin and Gazprom top manager Anatoly Paliy. This was
reported by Ukrainian blogger OLDboi.

The developers are trying to pretend that they are a Cypriot studio, but
events for media representatives in Moscow and Russian sponsors
immediately show who the authors really are. The game is set in the
Soviet Union, where a robot uprising has taken place, forcing a KGB
officer to save the country. The gagadget editorial team urges you not
to buy the game and not to sponsor the Russian government.

https://gagadget.com/en/218528-lockheed-martin-and-the-us-navy-will-begin-testing-hypersonic-missiles-in-2024-on-the-uss-zumwalt/

As if I didn't have enough reasons to avoid this game like the plague,
the few gameplay videos I've seen looked comically bad.

--
We are monkeys with money and guns

On 23/02/2023 03:39, Metal Guru wrote:
>
> The Ministry of Digital Transformation will send an official letter to
> Sony, Microsoft and Valve to ban the sale of Atomic Heart in Ukraine.
>
> According to dev.ua, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation Oleksandr
> Borniakov commented on the game's release:
>
> "We also call for limiting the distribution of this game in other
> countries due to its toxicity, potential collection of user data and the
> possibility of transferring it to third parties in Russia, as well as
> the potential use of money raised from game purchases to wage war
> against Ukraine."
>
> Atomic Heart is a Russian game by Mundfish studio, sponsored by Russian
> publisher Gaijin and Gazprom top manager Anatoly Paliy. This was
> reported by Ukrainian blogger OLDboi.
>
> The developers are trying to pretend that they are a Cypriot studio, but
> events for media representatives in Moscow and Russian sponsors
> immediately show who the authors really are. The game is set in the
> Soviet Union, where a robot uprising has taken place, forcing a KGB
> officer to save the country. The gagadget editorial team urges you not
> to buy the game and not to sponsor the Russian government.
>
> https://gagadget.com/en/218528-lockheed-martin-and-the-us-navy-will-begin-testing-hypersonic-missiles-in-2024-on-the-uss-zumwalt/
>
> As if I didn't have enough reasons to avoid this game like the plague,
> the few gameplay videos I've seen looked comically bad.
>

Not sure about the truth of the more political side of it but any links
to Gazprom executives would certainly put me off as if he hasn't
accidentally fallen off a hotel balcony then he at least publicly
supports Putin. Generally I try and avoid politics and games but there
is a certain line that I won't cross.

The game itself, I did watch a short review and that said although it
had some problems (more of a double A game than a triple A one) overall
they enjoyed it. Putting the politics aside it looks like the sort of
game I would consider when it ends up in Steam sale at £5.

Oh, the link to hypersonic missile tests, you've confused me there?

On Wed, 22 Feb 2023 22:39:54 -0500, Metal Guru <MetalGuru@IsItYou.com>
wrote:

>
>The Ministry of Digital Transformation will send an official letter to
>Sony, Microsoft and Valve to ban the sale of Atomic Heart in Ukraine.

Aww, you beat me to it. I wanted to post on this first ;-)

It's doubtlessly not as clear-cut as the Ukraine minister is making it
sound, but I can't help but feel sympathetic to their request. Even if
the developers are an independent agency supportive of Ukraine's
plight - and that's very debatable - the simple fact of the matter is
that by buying this game, money will be entering Russia in the form of
taxes. And that's just not something I'm comfortable with.

Even if the developers were outspoken opponents of the war, still I
wouldn't fund them. If the choice is between letting a game publisher
collapse or supporting an unjust war, the choice is pretty easy. And
if all the allegations about the company's ties to Russia are true? It
only makes that choice even easier.

Don't like that being a Russian company is costing you financially?
Don't be a Russian company. It's not like they've had eight years
(first Russian invasion of Ukraine was in 2014) to move shop.

>As if I didn't have enough reasons to avoid this game like the plague,
>the few gameplay videos I've seen looked comically bad.

Actually, it looked sort of intersting to me; despite the minister's
claim about it being very pro-Soviet, it's not really. It's an
alternate-history where the Soviet Union has dominated, but it's still
portrayed as being quite an awful place if you peek behind the
curtains. Gameplay is very Bioshock-like which is not my favorite
genre, but one I find fun nonetheless.

But even if this were the greatest game in the world, I would still
give it a pass because of the involved politics.

Still, it's all a moot point as far as I'm concerned. I don't buy
games when they are new and - by the time this one drops into my range
of affordability - hopefully the war will be resolved.

I really do hope that.

On 2/23/2023 4:58 AM, JAB wrote:
> On 23/02/2023 03:39, Metal Guru wrote:
>> According to dev.ua, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation
>> Oleksandr Borniakov commented on the game's release:
>>
>> "We also call for limiting the distribution of this game in other
>> countries due to its toxicity, potential collection of user data and
>> the possibility of transferring it to third parties in Russia, as well
>> as the potential use of money raised from game purchases to wage war
>> against Ukraine."
>
> Not sure about the truth of the more political side of it but any links
> to Gazprom executives would certainly put me off as if he hasn't
> accidentally fallen off a hotel balcony then he at least publicly
> supports Putin. Generally I try and avoid politics and games but there
> is a certain line that I won't cross.
>
> The game itself, I did watch a short review and that said although it
> had some problems (more of a double A game than a triple A one) overall
> they enjoyed it. Putting the politics aside it looks like the sort of
> game I would consider when it ends up in Steam sale at £5.
>
> Oh, the link to hypersonic missile tests, you've confused me there?

No idea how that happened, sorry about that:

https://gagadget.com/en/games/217957-the-ministry-of-digital-transformation-will-send-an-official-letter-to-sony-microsoft-and-valve-to-ban-the-sale-of-/

https://dev.ua/news/v-mintsyfri-vidreahuvaly-na-reliz-rosiiskoi-hry-atomic-heart-1676979980
(Ukrainian)

On 23/02/2023 18:29, Metal Guru wrote:
>> Oh, the link to hypersonic missile tests, you've confused me there?
>
> No idea how that happened, sorry about that:

This is a video I watched recently about hypersonic missiles I found
interesting and if like like military aircraft I can recommend their
channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I3vAUFZ5Ug

Metal Guru <MetalGuru@IsItYou.com> writes:

> Atomic Heart is a Russian game by Mundfish studio, sponsored by
> Russian publisher Gaijin and Gazprom top manager Anatoly Paliy. This
> was reported by Ukrainian blogger OLDboi.

> OLDboi

Literally who?