This new Counter-Strike map was created to smuggle the truth about the Ukraine war into Russia
The newspaper Helsingin Sanomat(opens in new tab) has sometimes been described as a cultural institution in Finland, the country's own paper of record and over the years a campaigning media presence. Ever since Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, Helsingin Sanomat's coverage has been extensive and extensively critical of the Putin regime, to the extent of setting up a dedicated website (banned in Russia, naturally). Now it's found a new avenue of expression: a Counter-Strike map.
To coincide with World Press Freedom Day, Helsingin Sanomat has commissioned the creation of a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive map that resembles a war-torn Ukrainian city, but also hides a secret. The map includes a corridor that leads to an underground bunker, within which is a variety of information and news coverage (in English and Russian) relating to Russia's actions in Ukraine. The map is named de_voyna: The word «voyna» means war in Russian, and over there it's forbidden to use this word to describe the war in Ukraine(opens in new tab).
The information within the secret room comes from Helsingin Sanomat's war correspondents in Ukraine, and the newspaper's editor-in-chief Antero Mukka says the idea came about because «Russians have very little chance to receive independent information about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine» but «the gaming world and gamers themselves are still left unchecked.»
It is most certainly true that the Russian state tightly controls the media diet fed to its population, though whether hiding a secret newspaper in what Mukka calls «the world's most popular war game» is an effective way of breaching that remains to be seen. Mukka says the key is that the Russian administration doesn't associate games with
Read more on pcgamer.com
