Is Atomic Heart Video game Pro-Russia?
There is a lot of mystery surrounding the development and release of Atomic Heart, a first-person shooter set in the Soviet era. It’s a complicated situation, but it’s worth looking into. Please allow us to clarify the Russian issue about Atomic Heart to the best of our knowledge.
Atomic Heart Pro-Russian stand
It must be stated up front that there is no denying that pro-Russian elements are lauded in Atomic Heart. It’s 1955 in a Soviet Union where the Allies have just defeated Nazi Germany, and technology is booming. Aesthetically and tonally, the game very much leans into its material with a sense of flair, even as the narrative indicates the foolishness of the arrogance of the Soviet creators.
Given the current state of affairs in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, it is obvious that any artistic endeavour that promotes such ideas is bound to spark debate. The game was revealed in July 2017, which is a long time before February 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. Nonetheless, the actual beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War was in February of 2014.
The current release date for Atomic Heart is February 21, 2023, which is dangerously near to the anniversary of Putin’s invasion. This follows a series of delays, all of which may allegedly be attributed to routine game testing and problem fixing rather than any external factor. Requests for a further postponement, in the vein of Nintendo’s decision to shelve Advance Wars 1+2 in the face of “recent world events,” have thus far gone ignored.
Australia’s Mick Gordon, who scored the game, has pledged to give his whole payment to the Red Cross’ Ukrainian Crisis Appeal.
Who Company Created the Atomic Heart?
In addition to being headquartered in Cyprus, Mundfish also has “an incredible team of 130 creatives from 10 countries including Poland, Ukraine, Austria, Georgia, Israel, Armenia, UAE, Serbia, and Cyprus”. as stated on the company’s website. According to common belief, the corporation was founded in Russia.
Before to this, the group had been developing a VR game they were calling Soviet Lunapark VR.
Because of the prevalence of Soviet-inspired motifs in their work and the rumours circulating about data collecting for government authorities, Mundfish felt compelled to issue a statement. They did this via Twitter, explaining that they were “undeniably a pro-peace group opposing violence against people” before declaring that they did not comment on politics or religion.
Numerous people, including Sergey Mohov of Remedy Entertainment, have pointed out that the aforementioned tweets did not directly name any events. Mohov has also previously mentioned how the lavishness of Mundfish’s advertising events seems to go against the premise that Atomic Heart is satirising the Soviet dictatorship (though the grandiose nature could indeed be seen as a jab at nationalistic propaganda).
There has been a lot of talk about the groups associated with Mundfish, which is a bigger picture. Gaijin Entertainment, which were involved in a sponsorship scandal involving an anti-Ukrainian YouTube channel, is one of their investors. While VK Play’s CEO is now under sanctions due to his links to Putin, the PC version of Atomic Heart will be available to players in a number of Eastern European areas through the platform.