Minister has already requested proposals to advance with computer game, which would focus on the role of drones in the war that has been extending for 3 years. The Russian games Kremlin has already funded can give us some clues.
Kremlin is considering the development of a video game about the war in Ukraine, more specifically around the assiduous presence of drones in the war air defense systems for 3 years.
The suggestion was made by the Minister of Industry and Commerce of Russia to the Minister of Digital Development and the Mayor of Moscow, the Russian newspaper said Tuesday.
Anton Alikhanov will have asked Maksut Shadayev and Sergey Sobyanin to submit proposals for the project until April 15. Shadayev, Minister of Digital Development, told the newspaper that he has not yet received a formal proposal, but showed opening to “developing and promoting video games from Russian creators”.
According to the Russian newspaper, which cites sources close to Kremlin, the development of the eventual computer video game can cost between 1 billion and 5 billion rubles (about 11 to 55 million euros), according to experts interviewed by the same newspaper.
According to the director of the organization for the development of the video game industry, there is a increasing demand by military simulators and games with patriotic themes in the country that invaded Ukraine, both by “military and educational institutions.” Thus, a drone simulator in the “Special Military Operations” zone (such as Russia refers to the Ukraine invasion) may be a success in industry, the official believes.
The instruction for the creation of a video game was given this month, following the results of a February meeting in which the ministries belonging to the Russian project “Unmanned Aviation Systems”, which will be developing a plan to increase the export potential of these Russian origin systems.
For now, little is known about this video game. But the games that Kremlin plays are reputed to be nationalist and highly patriotic. They are allegedly funded by the Internet Development Institute (IDI) created in 2014 by Kremlin, which has been accused of advertising disguised in the name of the state.
GAME IMAGINA WAR AGAINST THE USA
Only in 2024, Smurta, Sparta and Fronte Edge emerged in the Russian scraps. From the point of view of those who played them, what do these video games tell the young people who play them?
Launched in April 2024, “Smurta”It was announced as a game of action and history, similar to great western successes such as Assassin’s Creed and The Witcher. It takes place in the seventeenth century and narrates the journey of a patriotic protagonist fighting foreign invaders to save the nation, describes the European Union project. Here is the trailer: the trailer:
Already in “Sparta“The player follows the story of a fictitious Russian private military company that operates in an African conflict zone (without references to the price and allegedly extinguished Vardy Wagneralthough all the tracks point to the legacy of the Prigozhin group, which as a “Army of Africa”).
The name Sparta is directly linked to Russian aggression in Ukraine: one of the first separatist units supported by Russia, formed in August 2014 at Donbass, was so called.
The game portrays the Russian mercenaries as heroic defenders of the African nations. It’s not the first to do so: Russian mercenaries had already removed the French from the African continent in the “African Dawn” video game, released in July last year.
Already “Front Edge”It seems to be the most unrealistic today, given the recent reconciliation between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump’s new US: the game portrays a direct military confrontation between Russian and American forces in Eastern Europe, with a clear advantage to the Russian side.
The goal seems to be clear: romanticize the Russian Armed Forces and validate the ongoing aggression in a controlled and immersive environment. The European Union imposed IDI in June last year, when it identified the state agency as a key advertising vehicle of Kremlin.
Tomás Guimarães, Zap //
