Ukraine wants Valve, Microsoft, and Sony to stop selling Atomic Heart in the country
Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation says it will ask Valve, Microsoft, and Sony to halt the sale of Atomic Heart(opens in new tab) in Ukraine, and will urge «limiting» its distribution in other countries because of the «the potential use of money raised from game purchases to conduct a war against Ukraine.»
Atomic Heart is developed by Mundfish, a Russian studio with alleged ties to the Russian government(opens in new tab). It's a complex issue, but the short version is that Mundfish is backed by a company founded by a former deputy general of Gazprom, Russia's state-run energy behemoth, and distributed by VKPlay, which is effectively controlled by Gazprom.
There are other, less concrete connections and claims, but the bottom line, as Joshua Wolens explained in our overview of the controversy(opens in new tab), is that «it seems unlikely that no money earned by Mundfish and its investors from Atomic Heart's sales will end up in the pockets of the Russian state, if only by taxation on whatever interests they still have in the country.» Atomic Heart is also full of Soviet kitsch, and the lead character is a literal KGB agent, which doesn't sit well with everyone, although Rich Stanton said in our review(opens in new tab) that the game critiques Russian exceptionalism
Ukraine's decision to request that sales of Atomic Heart be suspended was first reported by Dev.ua(opens in new tab) (Google translated(opens in new tab)) and was confirmed today in an English-language statement sent to PC Gamer.
«The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine will send an official letter to Sony, Microsoft, and Valve requesting a ban on selling digital versions of this game in Ukraine,» deputy minister of digital transformation
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