Atomic Heart developer Mundfish has responded to recent criticism of its lack of support for Ukraine and condemnation of the Russian government. In a tweet, the developer said it would not “comment on politics or religion,” indicating that it will not change its stance, or lack thereof, as the release of Atomic Heart approaches.
This comes after Mundfish was accused of developing Atomic Heart with money provided by sanctioned Russian companies and banks that are “systemically important” to the Russian government. Because of this, there are fears that profits from the game will help the Russian government in its invasion of Ukraine – something that Mundfish has made clear it will not address.
The story began when a Twitter user under the pseudonym Aryo, who specializes in covering Russian agression in Ukraine, was asked by one person to analyze the behavior of the developers of Atomic Heart in relation to the war. In a series of posts, Aryo wrote that the developers intend to release their game in Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan on the VK Play platform.
Not only that, one of the studio’s investors is the Gaijin company, which paid for advertising on the “DPR” (terrorist organization Donetsk People’s Republic) YouTube channel, for which the Russian military is actually responsible, in order to promote its products. Another major Mundfish investor is GEM Capital, controlled by a former Gazprom executive, which “actively invests in the Russian oil and gas industry.”
Aryo claims that Mundfish has never spoken out about the war in Ukraine before. Despite numerous requests from both opponents and supporters of the war, the studio has not made any statement on the matter. Developers, including Remedy and A4 Games, have been criticized for not marking their position.
Equally important is the release date of the game, which is scheduled for February 21. It was on this day last year that Russia recognized the independence of the “republics”, the “liberation” of which was supposed to be the reason for the start of the war.
The reaction of the players did not take long. Some have stated that they are not going to buy the game so as not to support a studio with ties to Russia. Others thanked Aryo for this thread, as they were previously unaware that the game could support the continuation of the war in Ukraine. There’s also no shortage of voices calling for Microsoft to address the issue, as Atomic Heart will be available on Xbox Game Pass from launch day.
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I do not want to support this boycott, but I have to support this boycott.
It's sad, but it is what it is.
Man, you are cool!
-2017, all job vacancies were written in russian: https://i.imgur.com/Em0npXE.png
-2018, their address was in moscow: https://i.imgur.com/uYqlGzj.png
-2018, all advertised jobs were in moscow: https://i.imgur.com/He73VxS.png
-November 2021 (just months before invasion), they state that they are a russian company and all 12 jobs posted were in moscow: https://i.imgur.com/oxLeI6W.png
-August 2022, references to being in russia are removed from website: https://i.imgur.com/RKU5fRy.png
-September 2022, job details are listed in english, but the "JOB TITLE" heading over the actual job title is still written in russian: https://i.imgur.com/vc1x6Oj.png
-2 November 2022, same time the final release date is announced, they change their website to claim(lie) that they were founded in cyprus: https://i.imgur.com/2UKdPCP.png
-Jan 2023, they update their website to its current form where it states "Founded in 2017, by a team of four like-minded gaming enthusiasts, Mundfish is a video game development studio headquartered in Cyprus." which technically might not be a lie (assuming they are actually in cyprus now), but is intentionally deceptive
-currently, i can't find any headquarters address or job locations, so they could all still be in russia and are just saying they're actually in cyprus
of course, they could be anti-putin and anti-war, but afraid to say so. and they could have fled russia to avoid participating in the war(the changes occur the month before mass mobilization started), but we don't know that, all we know so far is that their origin is russia and that they have used lies and deception to hide that fact
Wow, cool, tnx!
Thanks for doing an investigation like this, it's impressive!
Shame about Ukraine but i am buying Atomic Heart. Cry harder
not a penny for russian murderers!
Too late on my end lol
They are a Russian development team? Lol and you want them to speak out against the government? Do people not know Russia?
So that's why we should support genocide?
I’m not saying Russian should support genocide lol. To make a public statement against it would be considered political dissidence. I’m sure they are concerned for the well being of their families regardless of where the studio is located.
Or maybe they support the war? We will never know if they do not openly declare their position.
Our complaints are not only about the political position of the developers. There are basic problems with the setting of the game in which the main character is a KGB officer, but in general, Russian propaganda and nostalgia for the Soviet Union are visible. Moreover, all this was collected with Russian money, which means that investors will receive their share of the profits This is the financing of the war.
In peacetime, everyone would turn a blind eye to these moments, but now, alas, everything Russian is more toxic than ever.
My point is they can’t lol. It’s not that hard to understand
Okay, they can't. But if you still are deciding to buy their game you are putting yourself under the risk of supporting genocide. Also it's well-known fact that they are affiliated with russian government.
Lol still buying the game Ukraine should be greatful i'm even thinking about buying Stalker 2
"THEY CAN'T" - This can be made the slogan of Russian civil society over the past few decades. Because of this, Russians raised Putin and the world is on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe and is in danger of turning into the post-apocalypse world of the Atomic Heart game.
The company and development is based in Cyprus, so that excuse doesn’t work
Good
It's not hidden.
1. You pay developers money.
2. Developers pay their RU taxes.
3. RU use this money to make weapon that bombing UA cities (and also pay RU soldiers)
How much one game company makes isn't going to change the russian war budget. The budget for war is based on other factors, not how much a single game studio is making. No matter what they make off this game it will not effect russian military spending, they will spend how the feel regardless if this game does good or bad
Yes, you are right, the financing of the war can be considered far-fetched to a greater extent. Rather, these are voluntary sanctions against one specific studio and specific people who support the war or simply try to avoid responsibility, like all Russians. This is a good precedent, because while the war is going on, all Russians should feel the consequences, at least economic ones. I remind you that the Russians are killing people in Ukraine massively using terrorist methods. Economic punishment is nothing compared to this fact.
Well, they are trying to hide these facts.
Thanks to all from Ukraine ❤️
it is necessary!!!!
Also ignoring this game
And that is beautiful.