Atomic Heart: Ukraine officially requests ban of game from stores

Ukraine has now written to the major platform operators and is demanding that Atomic Hearts be banned.

In February, we reported on the intention of the Ukrainian government to demand the ban of the game Atomic Heart from Xbox, PlayStation and Steam digital stores.

The game should be removed as it promotes toxicity, engages in potential user data collection and money from game sales could be used for the war against Ukraine.

Mykhailo FedorovDeputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Transformation in Ukraine, has now written and thus officially addressed the management team of the companies.

Uniform letters were sent to Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Jim Ryan, Sony Group Corporation’s Kenichiro Yoshida, Microsoft’s Brad Smith and Valve’s Gabe Newell.

We have translated the content of the letter to Brad Smith from Microsoft for you:

“Dear Mr. Smith,

As you know, February 24, 2023 is the anniversary of the war against Ukraine waged by the Russian Federation. For a year now, Ukraine has been fighting bravely against evil in the world, while Russia continues its cruise missile terrorism and commits war crimes on a daily basis.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine welcomes the measures already taken by private companies to increase economic pressure on Russia by suspending their operational and commercial activities there. Indeed, corporate sanctions are a powerful tool to prevent the development of technology or warfare in Russia. However, we have serious concerns about the game Atomic Heart, which was released on the Xbox Games Store on February 21, 2023. Therefore, I would like to address you with this letter and tell you the following.

According to the information we have, the game mentioned above was developed by the Russian studio Mundfish. Since Mundfish has Russian management and Russian offices, there is a risk that funds from the game’s purchases will flow into the Russian budget and thus be used to finance the war against Ukraine. Another point I have to emphasize is that cooperation with Russian companies is not compatible with sanctions policies in free democratic countries. Another dimension of the game “Atomic Heart” – its theme. The Ukrainian government has serious concerns as it is completely against Ukrainian legislation. The game itself promotes the communist regime and Soviet symbols.

I don’t think Microsoft wants to be seen as a platform supporting communism, even in such a futuristic guise. The history of Soviet Russia and its imperialist encroachments on other independent countries led to the murder of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Not only now in Ukraine, but also in Moldova and Georgia. It’s no longer a rhetorical question as to whether it’s worth promoting icons smeared with blood.

With the above in mind, we are calling on Microsoft Corporation to ban the sale of digital versions of this game through the Xbox Games Store.

I would also like to emphasize that the game developers have not commented publicly on Putin’s regime and the bloody war that Russia has unleashed against Ukraine. Now more than ever, politicians and businesses around the world should unite to protest the Russian invasion and stop funding the war in any way they can. Also an informative post. I hope to see you on the light side.

Best regards

Mykhailo Fedorov
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine,
Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine”