The current state between Ukraine and Russia is quite dire at the current moment. The latter has seen a massive number of bans from various companies that severely impacted its infrastructure. Now, Ukraine is asking for a particular piece of media. That being the recently released game by Mundfish, Atomic Heart.
In this game, the main player, as a KGB officer, is tasked with eliminating the consequences of a large-scale accident that causes machinery to rebel against the people. Failure to do so could lead to the destruction of the entire world. The game takes place in an utopian society described as “The Future USSR” according to the game’s key features.
Of course, that’s not the only reason why the game has been recently targeted for a ban in Ukraine. The game’s developer and publisher Mundfish has allegedly received funding from state-owned and pro-Russian companies. The current point of contention lies with the recent funding that they got from the Russian state-owned energy Corporation Gazprom.
This lead the Ukraine Minister of Digital Affairs to formerly ask the Sony, Microsoft, and Valve to ban the game’s sale in Ukraine. According to dev.ua (translated by Gagadget), the Minister Alexander Bornyakov asked for the ban of digital distribution in Ukraine while also encouraging limiting the distribution of the game in other countries:
We 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 developer publisher Mundfish was founded in Moscow, but much of the team has relocated following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You can get the details on the team’s current makeup via Wccftech’s interview with Mundfish. While the company is currently confirmed to be based in the Republic of Cyprus, it’s alleged that it has been either ambivalent or supports the Russian efforts against Ukraine.
Atomic Heart has had very heated discussion ever since it was announced in 2018, from accusations of the game being vaporware to the current state of affairs regarding the accusations thrown by the Ukraine Minister. The game’s controversies have remained ever so present even now after the game has been released as players have noticed that one of the game’s characters bears a striking resemblance to the former Ukraine Primer Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
Still, Atomic Heart has become one of the most popular games in the market, beating even Hogwarts Legacy’s sales on Steam not too long ago. So, it’ll be interesting to see Microsoft, Sony, and Valve’s response to the request by the Ukraine official. Atomic Heart is currently available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
