Ever since the Cold War Russia has had an image of a villain in the Western world. It just so happens that the West is where most of the largest video game studios exist.
It is not even surprising that Russia is a villain in video games. On top of that, now that Russia has brought back a large-scale armed conflict back to Europe, the villainous image of Russia is going to be solidified. And so the State Duma of the Russian Federation is now worried about the threats of the “Kyiv regime” in video games.
Russia is often a villain in military-style video games. Image credit: Quakeboy via Wikimedia
Russian children can “form a negative image of Russia” thanks to video games, said Anna Kuznetsova, deputy speaker of the Russian State Duma, their legislature body.
Kuznetsova did not provide examples of such games. It is likely that she is not very well-versed in this area. However, she is not too far off. In many military-style video games, such as first-person shooters, Russia is one of the villains. And now that Russia has invaded Ukraine, this image is going to become more popular.
And the worries of the Russian State Duma go deeper than that. According to Kuznetsova, some game studios (again, it is not clear which ones) transfer money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but children and adult players of the game do not know about this. Kuznetsova called for “setting priorities that correspond to the national interests of the country.” That is, try to prevent Russian children from playing potentially pro-Ukrainian or anti-Russian games.
“I propose to send an appeal to Roskomnadzor, Rospotrebnadzor with a proposal to prepare a set of measures to protect against threats posed by the Kyiv regime in video games,” said Anna Kuznetsova. She also suggested asking the Russian Ministry of Education to provide a set of measures or strengthen them “to protect schoolchildren from involvement in destructive activities of Ukraine.”
Roskomnadzor is the Russian Federal Service for Communications, Information Technology and Public Information Means, while Rospotrebnadzor is the Russian Consumer Rights Protection Service. Both these institutions do not shy away from engaging in censorship, hunting down allegedly “Russophobic” products.
You may count on this – FPS games in the near future will have elements from the war in Ukraine. And Russia will be the invader, occupier, war criminal, sponsor of terrorism. That is just how things go in this area. Also, multiplayer games are a digital space where all sorts of ideas can be shared and Russian players may learn a thing or two about themselves there too.
It is interesting that the highest Russian political institutions are worried about the image of Russia in video games. However, their image in video games is not worse than in other parts of life.
Written by Povilas M.
Source: Liga.net