Ukraine Calls For Worldwide Atomic Heart Ban
Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov has sent official letters to Sony, Microsoft, and Valve, asking them to ban Atomic Heart from all major storefronts. Fedorov wrote that Russia is using the gaming industry for a "brand new level of digital propaganda," that none of the big corporations should support.
Shortly after Atomic Heart's launch, Ukrainian politicians reacted to several controversies surrounding the project, banning digital sales of the game in the country. Today it was revealed that the ultimate goal is to ban Atomic Heart sales all over the globe by pulling the product from Steam, the Microsoft Store, and the PlayStation Store.
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Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov posted his official requests to Sony CEO Jim Ryan and Sony president Kenichiro Yoshida, Valve's CEO Gabe Newell, and Microsoft's president Brad Smith, listing "serious concerns" that the Ukrainian government has with Atomic Heart. Fedorov pointed out that the game was developed by Russian studio Mundfish (currently headquartered in Cyprus), and therefore, "there is a potential risk that money raised from the purchases of the game [...] will be used to fund war against Ukraine" by Russian authorities. Vice Prime Minister also believes that "working with Russian entities is not in line with [current] sanctions policy."
Other concerns include Atomic Heart's visual and narrative themes that "promote the communist regime and Soviet symbols," which completely violate Ukrainian legislation. The letter states that "Soviet Russia murdered hundreds of thousands civil people," not only in Ukraine, but also in Moldova and Georgia.
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