Ukraine demands that the Russian Atomic Heart be withdrawn from sale. There were accusations of collecting data for the Kremlin

The controversy around Atomic Heart continues. Although the production, which debuted a few days ago, collects quite decent reviews (72/100 on Metacritic), many editors have decided to completely boycott the title. Reason? Accusations of unclear financial ties between the Mundfish studio and Russian companies and oligarchs.

The production of the game was co-financed by the GEM Capita groupl, whose founder is a former director of one of Gazprom’s subsidiaries, and in Russia itself the game debuts on the VK Play platform, which is owned by the VKontakte platform, i.e. “Russian Facebook”, and at the same time a company closely associated with the Kremlin.

Although Mundfish is based in Cyprus, most of the employees are Russian, and the developer also has two offices in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg. The developers of the game avoided taking a stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for a long time, and when they did – a month before the release of Atomic Heart – they limited themselves to saying that they were a “pro-peace organization”.

We do not comment on political or religious issues. Rest assured, we are a global team focused on bringing Atomic Heart to players around the world. We do not and will not tolerate people who send spam and use offensive, hateful, discriminatory, violent or threatening language or content

– we read in the Mundfish statement published in mid-January this year.

The theme of the game itself is also controversial. The creators put it in retro futuristic vision of the Union Soviet, which was presented in a nostalgic and idealized way. Then there’s the release date. Mundfish decided to release the title almost on the eve of the anniversary of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. It’s hard not to get the impression that this is a deliberate move.

Atomic Heart collects data for the Kremlin? The Ukrainians demand the removal of the game

Now the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation has decided to take the floor on Atomic Heart. Oleksandr Borniakov, the deputy head of the ministry, announced that he would make an official request to Microsoft, Sony and Valve for a complete ban on the sale of digital versions of the game on the territory of Ukraine.

We call for limiting the distribution of this game in other countries due to its toxicity, the potential collection of user data and the possibility of transferring it to third parties in Russia, as well as the potential use of money raised from the purchase of the game for the war with Ukraine

Bornyakov explains.

The politician – referring to media findings – also noted that the game was created with money that comes from companies and banks that are systemically important to the Russian government and subject to sanctions. Borniakov added that the Mundfish studio has not yet issued a statement in which it would unequivocally condemn the Putin regime and “the bloody war that Russia has unleashed against Ukraine.”