Ukraine's Government Officially Requests Atomic Heart's Ban in Letters to Sony, Microsoft, & Valve

Last month, Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation announced that it would reach out to Sony, Microsoft, and Valve requesting the ban of digital sales of Mundfish's Atomic Heart in the country. Today, they announced that they have followed through and published letters to the platform holders.

[SullysCigar]

Here we go... Play it now everyone, before it's too late. You don't get to make your own decisions, the Ukrainian Government will let you know what you can and can't buy. 🙄

[VenomUK]

This is a bad precedent, for governments to ask companies to prevent art-based media to be banned. If individuals don’t want to play it then it’s their choice - but don’t force the removal of choice from the public.

These are dangerous times we’ve entered, where everyone wants to suffocated the voices of people they disagree with. What will you do about it?

[victorMaje]

If this goes through, gamers should sue the stores. If it doesn’t we should watch the terms & conditions very closely.

[sadraiden]

It's not a bad precedent. It's an extremely specific instance of a country being invaded by an aggressor, and the invaded country requesting a video game platform prevent sales of Russian content in their country.

"Suffocated the voices of people they disagree with" such a shitty take. It's a video game.

[Abriael]

I'd say it's more "dangerous" when a country invades another in complete defiance of international law and starts committing a bunch of war crimes against its people than when a country politely asks for a (really shitty) game to be removed from sale.

When there's a war of aggression, it's entirely normal that those who are being invaded and are defending their freedom and territorial integrity fight on all fronts, including the cultural fronts.

The fact that some seem to be angrier about a simple request for the ban of a crap game than about tens of thousands of people being murdered in the name of putin's hubris really shows their colors and how screwed up their priorities are.

[GhostTurtle]

@sadraiden
It's a terrible precedent....what the fuck are you talking about?

[VenomUK]

@Abriael: "The fact that some seem to be angrier about a simple request for the ban of a crap game than about tens of thousands of people being murdered in the name of Putin's hubris really shows their colours and how screwed up their priorities are."

It's not that anybody is endorsing or celebrating the illegal invasion of Ukraine - I don't think anybody here is doing that. Rather, the point you're making is that because THIS is such an important issue the game should be banned. Likewise, just a month ago there were other people saying HOGWARTS LEGACY should be banned because the issues related to the trans-debate are so important. There are loads of games that are important to some, somewhere. There are loads of games that are offensive to some groups, somewhere:

Should Hogwarts Legacy be banned because a group of people have very strong and sincere feelings about it being harmful?

Should SIX DAYS IN FALLUJAH be banned because it's extremely offensive to some people who have strong feelings about the invasion of Iraq?

Should ATOMIC HEART be banned because some people have strong feelings about the invasion of Ukraine?

I believe people are being sincere about the reasons they want Atomic Heart to be released - but with respect, we can't run societies by choosing to ban games, media, books, films, conversations, etc, just because a subsection of society doesn't agree with them. In a democracy, freedom is about having the choice to not be forced to play a game - not trying to force your choice on others.

[Abriael]

@venomUK: As a matter of fact, there's people right here supporting the invasion of Ukraine quite openly, while others (you included) are engaging in whataboutism, which isn't all that much better.

Whether the game should be banned or not, depends on the platform holders. It's their decision that they can take freely.

Just like it's Ukraine's right to ask for its ban. In war, you don't fight just with guns. Fighting on a cultural level is an entirely viable and justified tactic when there's a much more powerful (albeit absolutely inept) country trying to obliterate you from the map.

As for me, a game that unironically glorifies soviet ideology (and yes, it does) is despicable. My personal reaction is not to support it (easy choice since everything I've seen of it is absolute trash), but if a country wants to request its ban, it's their right, just like it's Sony's, Microsoft's, and Valve's right to accept that request or deny it.

No one here is "forcing" anything. They have made a request, which they literally cannot "force" on anyone. If the platform holders decide to (unlikely) accede to said request, it's their choice, and anyone will be free to judge that choice according to their personal values.

[JackBNimble]

Ukraine is being invaded by the Russian government, not Russian civilians. To demonize average civilians/ developers because they live in Russia or are Russian is disgusting.

[BlackTar187]

It’s very clear from the posts that sadraiden and abriael don’t even know much about the conflict and did their research on cnn,msnbc or Fox News. You guys need to let it sync in they are all propaganda.

[Abriael]

@JackBNimble: the russian government didn't elect itself and is not without support.

[Dirty_Lemons]

Yep absolutely. Germany has a bad track record for banning games too. It's not political, it's a bloody game. We have games where we go and murder innocent people in airports, or hack people to pieces and suffocate them with plastic bags (great game that Manhunt...) yet they aren't banned.

That said, this Ukraine conflict is extremely crappy and shouldn't be happening to begin with.

[Umb]

@Abriael, I think you need to look at things in Ukraine leading up to 2014 and the events soon after including the Minsk Accord and the situation in Donbas.

Geo-political narratives is complex enough but the MSM on either side doesn't help make things clearier, however, the bias will naturally fall in Western favor if you live in the west. And the western MSM has done a number of questionable things since the Gulf War era leading to current.

To allow a governemnt of another country to control how citizens of another country lives is not right. If we are to take the same standards, we also need to apply it to CCP of China and their long list of atrocities. Will we also be arguing the same point if the CCP told our government to ban things? Though I have a feeling this is already happening to a degree.

[sadraiden]

Do you live in Ukraine?

[Christopher]

No you don't.

[Abriael]

@Christopher: People often forget that their IP can be located 😂

[SullysCigar]

Lmao I didn't forget anything, I'm just not entertaining irrelevant questions arising from an inability to accept that others have differing views.

If you want to play that game: Do you have to live in Ukraine to value freedom of choice? Does my location somehow make my opinion less relevant than sadraidens? I take it he lives in Ukraine? I also take it you won't answer that last point.

[Christopher]

@Sully they don't, but they also didn't just blatantly lie about it.

[SullysCigar]

I was making a point Chris, but you already knew that.

[Sonic1881]

Why would I want to play a game that sucks

[JackBNimble]

No one said you have to play anything, that doesn't make it ok to ban a game just because you are ok with it.

[Sonic1881]

Fair enough but the game is still awful. They tried to compare it to Bioshock 🙄😂

[ChasterMies]

Doubt.

[Gamer_Dude]

I'm not a fan of being told what to do.

[The Wood]

Eff off

[neutralgamer1992]

110 billion euros spent
Billions in damages
Countless lives affected
Too many people died/dying

And the solution to all this was presented last April.

Defending their freedom and land yet have lost freedom and lost so much of their land. In April 2022 Russia said give us a guarantee that Ukraine won't join nato and we would leave your country completely. But I guess that's not good enough because that means all the aid money stops

There is no winning this war against Russia. Russia losing could lead to nuclear war. I understand why Russia don't want NATO forces inside Ukraine and on their borders. So if I was running Ukraine I would be more worried about coming to a peaceful agreement and not trying to ban a game

If anyone wants to have a real conversation reply otherwise keep believing what media tells us especially western media

[Abriael]

It's hilarious that someone actually thinks russia won't be defeated.

They've been slapped and humiliated at every corner by a country that is 40+ times smaller. Their oh-so-mighty military that was supposed to conquer Kyiv in 3 days has proven to be one of the most inept in the world.

It's amazing that someone still thinks waving around the nuclear threat is going to have any effect.

NATO is several times stronger than russia in every possible way, and if there's one party that must be afraid of escalation, that's russia.

NATO has never been a threat to russia. The only threat to russia is putin and his bid to keep himself relevant and in power. The only effect putin's hubris attained is to make NATO stronger and to push more countries on its borders into NATO. Good job, I guess.

Incidentally, what you mention about "April 2022" is pure historical revisionism. It literally never happened.

[NiceneCreeder]

Good joke russian dog.

[fr0sty]

You're misunderstanding what is going on here, they aren't trying to ban it worldwide, they just want it blocked in their own country, which they have every right to do.

[shinoff2183]

Again if their asking for it to be banned in their country I have no issue with that. None. If their asking for a worldwide ban I'd need some hard evidence that the studio is supporting the war with funds from the game before I could even think of getting behind that.

[Flawlessmic]

Exactly!

I don't understand why everyone in Russia should painted with the same brush as the leader.

The devs haven't done anything wrong as far as I know, why should all there hard work be banned.

Ridiculous request tbh, I mean I feel for Ukraine but to just brand all Russians as bad and to ban there work is no better unless they have done something or added something in the game to be offensive to Ukraine.

[SullysCigar]

"I don't understand why everyone in Russia should painted with the same brush as the leader." America is lucky the rest of the world don't apply this logic, or they'd assume Americans were senile. Be nice if we could extend the same courtesy, but people are too busy being in media-induced outrage mode to think.

Look at all the disagrees and not one reasonable retort. We're free to make our own choices with regards to purchases like this and Ukraine officials are trying to remove that privilege. How is anyone okay with that? If you agree with their principle, don't buy the game. Let the rest of us do as we please, too.

[NotoriousWhiz]

I just can't believe how many people upvoted @b777conehead's comment.

[anast]

@B777

Those nazis were sheltered and raised as Russian speaking citizens by governments that were manicured and propped up by Putin's Russia. Not to mention the president of the Ukraine is secular and Jewish. It looks like the Ukraine are trying to finally get rid of the neonazis..

[Old_Scout]

I think their perspective is the taxes the government will get from the company and employees goes to support the war, though it's probably a negligible amount. Gave you an up because nothing you said is unreasonable.

[staticall]

I fundamentally disagree that a government should ask/demand stores to remove any games. They shouldn't have the power to do that, even in their own country. They can ask a publisher, though - that's fine in my eyes.

I'll explain the difference:
Publishers must have the full control over what stores their game is being distributed in. They're the one who've paid and they distribute the game. They decide the prices and availability in different countries. So they're the authority here.

If government will decide that, they'll get a huge leverage and set a terrifying precedent.
Your game says anything negative about president/government/country? Banned.
You have an opinion we don't like? Banned.
You're a developer from a country we don't like? Banned.
Someone on your team said something we disagree with. Banned.

This will limit creativity, forbid certain topics, because publishers will see certain topic as "dangerous".
And don't forget a saying, «Appetite comes with eating» - first they'll block a game in one country, then try to pull it from every country in the world, after that - demand certain prices, request to add certain things and remove others or any other kind of shenanigans. Because they'll get a huge leverage.

The ONLY things, in my opinion, a government should do is:
1) Ask a publisher to remove the game or block sales in your specific location. Publishers will probably obey. But it must be their decision.
2) Ban a game in their country by law. Isn't how it should work in democratic countries anyway?

I'm saying this because in Russia, we had a law that allowed the government to block certain websites. First it was just for selling drugs, pedophilia and suicide how-tos(?) and people were ok with that. Once the law have passed, they started adding more and more stuff there - selling stuff from other countries under Russia "sanctions", "lying" about COVID, publishing politicians salary, what they own or when they break the law, being against the government or having funding from other countries, you name it. And now, they can block for whatever reason they want. This is what will happen with game stores as well. Government doesn't know when to stop.

[sadraiden]

Did you read the blurb? It says "in their country".

[staticall]

Did you actually read Fedorov tweet? I'll quote for you:
«Taking into account the above mentioned, we urge [Company name] to ban the selling digital versions of this game via [Platform]».
That's it.

[Vx_]

Cry me rivers

[EvertonFC]

Need to see evidence tbh before making any educated call

[italiangamer]

When this war will end no one will give a shit about Ukraine, just like Afghanistan. USA left and boom, not even a news from that place anymore.

[anast]

There's still a ton of news coming out of Afghanistan. Maybe you only read US/EU news from neoliberal or conservative rags.

[italiangamer]

Here in Italy not a single tv news broadcast talks about Afghanistan, no matter the political parties.

[TheLigX]

Lol spot on critique of the average media consumer. CNN, msnbc, and Fox News make their fortunes on direct lies and lies of omission.

[Knushwood Butt]

@ italiangamer

I watched an interview with Fabio Testi over the weekend, and he made a comment along the lines of, 'BLM? Here in Italy we haven't even resolved the issues of racketeering that have been around for 40+ years.'. Or words to that effect.

I thought it was a pretty interesting comment, and don't take it to mean that BLM isn't important.

[anast]

@ Italian Gamer

So it's worse, you only pay attention to local news...I can type in news from afghanistan and find a metric ton of information. It is up to you to care about stuff. If you don't then I don't understand your initial point.

[BrainSyphoned]

Get rekt. Oh wait you are already. Stop taking my tax money at least.

[jznrpg]

They aren’t taking your tax money for free. They will be expected to pay it back with interest . Britain just paid off their 4.3 billion aid (loan) from WW2 in 2006 . War is not free .

[Concertoine]

We’ll never see that money back. Mark my words.

[ANIALATOR136]

Who are the dictators again?

[Hofstaderman]

Biden pumped so much money in the Ukraine war there wasn’t even baby formula in the US at one point. All to protect American interests…I guess those interests don’t extend to American citizens. Ukraine government can kiss my butt I’m buying it now out of principle.

[anast]

Yeah, that will show them...you can't be serious, are you? Seriously. are you?

[shinoff2183]

https://www.whitehouse.gov/...

Come dude it's not like bide. Sat on his ass and did nothing like the other guy during most of covid. Just switch the news channel. He'll their own workers texts and emails have came out in court reports that they lie on TV and feel the opposite in real life.

[__SteakDeck__]

You really cited the White House website. Lol

[Hereandthere]

Really?

[Huey_My_D_Long]

The Fact that you Believe such Bullshit is honestly worrying af.

[NiceneCreeder]

less than 1% of spend goes to foreign aid. 1%. You should be familiar with that number, it's your average game completion achievement cause you're too busy reading drivel or vomiting it back up online.

Wonder where the most savings could be made? Within the 1% ... or within the other 99%.

[DEAGLETURK]

This so funny, Russian startet this war because of They want ignore russian language and russian rights who living in Ukraine.And this is showing russians maybe be right.

[Abriael]

Russia started this war because putin wanted more power and more land.

No other reason exists.

[MADGameR]

This is why I prefer the PEOPLE speak not Government. Because the Government has 0 interest in it's people. Look back at history. Government is the #1 killer of people in the world. Not Cancer, not diabetes.

[__SteakDeck__]

I’m not surprised by this. Ukraine has banned Churches, Political Parties/Candidates, and Journalists who oppose and disagree with what they believe in.

[Kekewei]

I support Ukraine people, but this is not a smart move. The game is not that good, they should leave it alone to be forgotten. Their demand now will arouse players from pro-Russia countries to buy more copies, especially Chinese players who share a large part of the Steam market. I am already seeing lots of them shouting to buy this game to support Russia.

[anast]

This is the only comment that makes sense.

[anast]

Play the game or not, banning games is stupid, but the neonazi humor in that game is vile.

[coolastheycome]

They also would like each company to donate a couple billion dollars to them as well

[anast]

...

[jznrpg]

I dont think they should ban the game and punish the people of Russia , it’s not like they can say something without fear of death or punishment . If the government directly benefits from it as in they are taking the profits maybe they have a case , but you can’t punish all for the actions of a few .

For the people who are saying that Ukraine is taking you’re tax money , they aren’t getting aid for free. The US will want their money back with interest. Britain paid off their aid (loan) in 2006 from World War 2 , 4.3 billion in total . War is not free .

[__SteakDeck__]

You really think Ukraine is paying up back? LMAO The US Tax Payers will be paying for that war.

[purple101]

Ridiculous. Like when people said you shouldn't play Rachmaninov music anymore.

They probs had nothing to do with it.

And in the case of Rachmaninov hrs dead for over 10p years and made some of the best music ever. Check it.. peace.

[Ra3030]

Hmm, personally I don't get this request at all but it is what it is. I'm thinking I'm must boycott the Ukrainian Developer and their Stalker 2 game it only seem fair.

[SullysCigar]

Exactly, I mean, we don't want to fund a war, right??

People should buy Atomic Heart if they like. Nothing to do with Ukraine.

[gold_drake]

dont they have better things to do?

[Inverno]

what exactly does this accomplish?

[SullysCigar]

In a wonderfully ironic backfire, publicity for Atomic Heart.

[Soldierone]

Imagine if we did this with all counties with morally wrong decisions. So long Chinese and Saudi owned publishers, oh wait there goes half the game industry. And next time America invades a country for oil....er....fight on terror... do we ban all the unrelated developers too since they pay taxes?

[TheLigX]

Jesus Christ. This oligarch infested government says jump and everyone just says how high. Insanity.

[Aggy]

This is interesting news. Definitely worth keeping an eye on.

[SullysCigar]

It is interesting. It's also kind of frustrating. People come here for gaming news and this kind of topic - as much as it generates yummy clicks - is always guaranteed to sew division among gamers, because we all get our news from different sources. All this over a tweet - nobody is talking about games here, they're just attacking each other.

[Gamer_Dude]

Agreed.

[MetalNCarnet]

All that Ukraine did with this crap is bring awareness to a game everyone would have forgotten about in a few months. Now people who are on Russia's side, who don't even play games, are going to buy copies to support (if true). Bad move IMO.

Should have just let it run it's course and disappear.

[rlow1]

First off of anyone thinks it’s okay to see innocent people die. Because their country was invaded by another, have not been in a war and experienced it.

As for videogames I can understand the views on both sides of the coin. For starters, this is a request from Ukraine and not a demand. So is it wrong to make a request??? No. A company or country doesn’t have to comply. As for stifling free speech, that’s less black and white. In one sense it can be viewed as stifling speech, though a videogame is also a product and sanctions have been applied to those. The idea is to punish the aggressor and that includes its citizens.

That’s said, the question comes down to, is it right to punish a small developer? That’s a tough one, when you’re on the sidelines and not affected directly from the tragedy of war then you can be more sympathetic towards the developer. I imagine if your city, town, or village was affected and you had to evacuate. Or you had family members die from the war. You’d feel very differently about it.

But this is nothing new. All countries at some point have done things that have punished or restricted speech. Yet we still have free speech today and those restrictions have passed. I really believe it comes down to you and your conscience. Don’t buy the game for yourself or others if this game passes that threshold for you.

If the governments do ban it, I don’t believe it is stifling speech. But protecting those that can’t protect or speak for themselves anymore. Because the same logic can be used on the war. Those innocent victims that have been killed by Russias indiscriminate use of bombs and artillery on civilians. Have had their free speech violated as well. They have been permanently banned from life. The developers of the game will live on for another day.

Just like the developers of this game. Did those victims ask for this? Did they do anything to deserve this? That’s the questions you should be asking yourself when and if you decide to invest in this game. Then just go with your conscience.

[hotnickles]

I care less about Ukraine every day. Nothing against the people, just like I have nothing against the Russian or Chinese people. But the government? What a joke. I thought my country was corrupt.

[kindi_boy]

I don't think Russians are serious about this war if they were no one would give a shit about banning a game from the Ukraine

[Father__Merrin]

soon there wont be any more ukranian government. i think i will ignore them stephan bandera followers

[anubusgold]

Yeah i downloaded it i find it stupid for people in safe countries to come down on them when putin will kill you if you speak out against him. Its easy to talk this trash when you are safe and you dont have to worry about your family being locked up and killed, people have no common sense on the internet.

[parkesy78]

People have short term memories America launched an illigal war in iraq with lies on WMDs over a million people died yet theres been plenty of actual war games featuring irag and usa ,They dropped 2 nukes on japan and killed 200,000's innocent people and children . america are the biggest terrorists in the world ,the only people that don't realise that are Americans

[XxINFERNUSxX]

There's always the free buggy dev version up for free on PC 😁 But I would recommend you avoid even trying to play it. If you thought UE4 games stutter, you ain't seen nothing.

[frostypants]

Just stop. The makers of this game have nothing to do with the war. Really backwards way of viewing the world.

[HyperMoused]

Ill be needing my money back then...and why stop at video games, i havnt done the research on what exactly comes out of Russia now, but im sure its more than just this game, this sets a precedent, ban any all things out of Russia then...everything, Vodka, Gas, mail order brides....you cant just single it out to a video game.

[jambola]

Maybe because usa is a largely Christian country we can ban any LGBT content in games too
🤷

[HyperMoused]

USA and religion has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine and this games revenue being used to fund the Russian war machine.

[jambola]

You don't understand comparisons do you.....

[343_Guilty_Spark]

I see we have Russian sympathizers. Another reason why this site is wack.

[poppatron]

I’m reading these comments mouth agape with shock. All I can think is it illustrates just how much the news is biased completely differently in different countries.

People seem quite certain that the the Ukrainian government is completely corrupt, I even just read that they had banned churches!?

I’m not saying it’s not true, just that it’s not making headlines here in the uk. Or getting a mention… I just think we’d all benefit from taking the news we are subjected to with a bit of a pinch of salt sometimes

[__SteakDeck__]

@Poppatron The Ukraine Government was corrupt. It’s the reason why they couldn’t get into NATO. They had to clean some things before they can be accepted.

[Duke19]

N4G is basically run by bots at this point. Even the ads they force are hilariously ultra-conservative propaganda in the US. One step short of basically plastering Putin’s face on the page lol

[Abriael]

Certain people have definitely shown their colors. Imagine coming even close to publicly supporting russia in 2023. 🤔

[__SteakDeck__]

@ 343_Guilty_Spark @Duke19 @Abriael Nobody is defending Russia. What we’re saying is how can you call yourselves a democracy when you’re asking for things to be banned. If a CCP propaganda game or film were released in America, you or I would dislike it and wouldn’t watch it, but I wouldn’t want it banned. Democracy is freedom of speech and freedom of thoughts.

[Abriael]

@__SteakDeck__: if you think "Nobody is defending russia" you should read the comments around here a little better. We have people literally cheering for russia and saying that Ukraine deserved it, which is absolutely ludicrous.

Incidentally, you can definitely call yourself a democracy when you're *asking* for things to be banned. As a matter of fact, democracies ban a lot of things (without even asking). It's called having laws.

What you're describing is called anarchy. "Freedom of speech" doesn't mean what you think it means. It means being able to express your views without being legally prosecuted by the state.

It has absolutely nothing to do with the non-enforceable request not to sell a game made to private companies.

[Killer2020UK]

Seems like a bit of a misstep by the Ukrainian government and probably a lack of knowledge concerning the game's actual content.

[poppatron]

They’re only asking for it to not be sold in the Ukraine.

I’m amazed it is on sale there. I’m guessing there’s been a pretty hard line stance on the sale of any other Russian goods in the Ukraine so why should digital goods be any different

[staticall]

They're not though, they want to pull it from every storefront. Look at Fedorov tweet (especially attachments), it's in the «Read Full News» link. I'll quote:
«Taking into account the above mentioned, we urge [Company name] to ban the selling digital versions of this game via [Platform]».

[Haki1112]

This is so dumb! The people of Russia didn't start this war Putin did.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Putin is their leader.

[Kocurstvo]

Will play and enjoy it only cause its russian game!!! Screw Ukroruine

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Russia sucks

[reaper602]

So what's next? Is Ukraine gonna demand Tetris be banned?

[Amplitude]

I dont think for a single second Valve or Microsoft would do this. Sony maaaaaybe but nah

[VanHalen]

No wonder Russia invaded Ukraine

[Eien]

If companies started banning products from a country cause of the actions of their government than they shouldn't sell products from US devs either. Just saying.

[Duke19]

While I do feel bad not supporting Russian developers who likely have 0 stake in Putin’s war; this is no different from other sanctions on the country. Until Putin grows up and stops this war - I won’t be sending my money to any Russian businesses

[__SteakDeck__]

@Duke19 So you wouldn’t date a hot Russian women if you met her? Lol

[Good-Smurf]

Some of you need to watch The New Atlas channel on youtube some eye opening stuff regarding this conflict.
As for the game, Ukranian government sure act a lot like a dictator not only in their country but also to other western countries, they don't get to judge other countries which game they can and can't buy or play.
As expected from US client regime Ukraine been since 2014.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Not watching RUSSIAN bs propaganda

[ChronoJoe]

People defending this game are really showing their asses. The game isn’t even any good, it’s not a hill you want to die on.

[jambola]

People aren't defending the game they're defending the right to buy it
Nobody's dying in any hills either, they're commenting on one comment section

[Pyrofire95]

Part of this ban request is the premise of Russian propaganda. Uh I can tell it's a fictional sci-fi world. I'm not going to be swayed to empathizing to a real world country that's slaughtering people in a pointless war.
Only valid part would be if it's somehow going into Russian Government funding but I've yet to see real evidence of that, it's just conjecture.
There only evidenced crime so far is not having Raytracing yet.
(Plus I'm just getting my copy with Gamepass, so I'm not really spending anything directly to it.)

[Aaroncls7]

nobody liked that