Russian games kill Ukrainians
The words in the headline are not a figure of speech, but, unfortunately, a harsh reality. Russian games and Russian game developers are helping to kill Ukrainians. And those C-300 missiles that hit the Nova Poshta terminal in Kharkiv on October 21, 2023, killing 6 people, have a share of the work of ordinary Russian game developers.
We are not even talking about paying taxes in Russia, a portion of which goes to the growing needs of the aggressor country’s military-industrial complex and the production of weapons that kill Ukrainians every day. Some gaming companies directly cooperate with weapons manufacturers.
For example, the allegedly Luxembourg-based UNIGINE Company, which creates the UNIGINE game engine (there used to be even a set of PC tests based on it). How can a game engine be used in a war?!
Well, the UNIGINE Company, which was actually founded by Denis Shergin in 2005 in Tomsk, Russia, cooperates with the Russian joint-stock company Almaz-Antey, which produces air defense systems, including the C-300, C-400 and C-500 systems. Yes, the very same C-300s whose missiles are falling on Ukrainian cities almost daily, killing civilians.
For Almaz-Antey, UNIGINE developed the Visualization component of the analytical software system.
“We are delighted to be working with industry leaders interested in using the latest 3D graphics technology,” commented Denis Shergin, CEO of Unigine, on the contract.
But that’s not all, as Volodymyr Semenyakin, a user of the Game Developers – Ukraine group, pointed out, UNIGINE Company is happy to announce that they are helping to develop “Virtual training ground for AI drones”. I don’t think I need to tell you where these drones will be used in the first place.
And that’s just one company, but there are a lot of examples. So, the next time you think that “it’s just a game, it’s okay if I buy it, it won’t happen”, think about UNIGINE Company. Think about the taxes that will go to the missiles that will try to kill you, and finally stop consuming anything Russian.
Russian kills. It always does. If not directly, then through the imposition of Russian narratives and brainwashing.
As a reminder, the curator of “Beware of Russian games on Steam” warns about Russian games. If you know of any Russian game that is not on the list, write to the curator of “Beware, Russian Games” on the Discord channel, on Steam, or tag @playua on Twitter.