A Ukrainian video game set in Chernobyl is the target of a Russian misinformation operation
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 game has become entangled in politics of Russian invasion of Ukraine
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Your support makes all the difference.A Russian disinformation campaign appears to be targeting a popular video game designed in Ukraine and set in Chernobyl.
In emails to journalists and a video with a fake WIRED magazine watermark, a network linked to past misinformation campaigns claims GSC Game World¡¯s S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is being used to help ¡°the government locate citizens suitable for mobilization¡± in the Ukraine-Russia war, as well as gather data on gamers, part of a deal with the Ukrainian government,¡± according to 404 Media.
A Russian misinformation campaign would only be the latest hurdle for the cult-hit video game, which was released on November 20, after being delayed over three years amid the ongoing war.
Its creators have faced missile attacks, cyber-attacks, and the challenges of developing a modern video game as its employees were scattered across Europe fleeing a war.
GSC Game World has been an outspoken supporter of Ukraine¡¯s war effort, raising money for a charity that supplies the country¡¯s army with equipment and barring the sale of its titles in Russia.
Russian officials have responded in kind.
Anton Gorelkin, deputy head of the State Duma¡¯s Information Policy Committee, suggested this month that the game might be banned in Russia and could face ¡°the most severe measures if illegal content is found in the game upon release, such as extremism, justification of terrorism, or incitement of ethnic hatred.¡±
Despite the game¡¯s high profile, its developers said they did not set out to build a ¡°propaganda thing¡± with the release, where players navigate a post-apocalyptic environment in the shadow of the famous nuclear disaster zone.
¡±We haven¡¯t made the game a propaganda thing. We didn¡¯t want to be very straightforward,¡± GSC Game World¡¯s lead producer, Slava Lukyanenka, told the website VG247. ¡°At the same time with the whole team travelling - half of us are in Kyiv, half in Prussia, some are scattered around Europe - we still need to keep delivering. We can¡¯t not reflect it in the game. But we do it indirectly. We do it through the stories, through the environment, through the feeling of decay.¡±
The Independent has contacted GSC Game World for comment.
The game¡¯s developers have described a harrowing process of bringing the title to life.
"Sitting in that cellar with my wife and my cats, I felt like I was abandoned. But like a ¡®stalker,¡¯ you have to learn how to live in such situation," concept artist Anton Kukhtytskyi said in a documentary about the game. "I switched to drawing on paper, so I didn¡¯t stop developing."
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