VIDEO GAMES – Virtual worlds captured by the reality of war. With the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, some of the developers responsible for licenses to the most famous video games were committed to peace, and often directly in favor of Kyiv. as you can see in the video at the top of this article.
Among international studios, some have been forced to respond under pressure, such as EA Sports. The developer of the inevitable football game FIFA announced on March 3 that it was removing Russia from the teams available in its latest installment, FIFA 22. A strong but logical decision taken by the International Football Federation (this time the real one). exclude the Russian team from their ranks until further notice.
Other major studios have chosen to show their support in recent days, most often by adopting the Ukrainian flag as a banner or by publishing support text in solidarity with the civilian population. Bungie, the developer of the Destiny license, posted on Twitter the addresses of several humanitarian NGOs involved in the conflict.
For others, the war is an even more acute problem. Eastern Europe is the breeding ground for the global video game industry and Ukraine is the leading country in this sector. As of the end of 2021, there were 200,000 software developers from all sectors and around the world working in the country, according to a report cited by Fast Company.
That’s why many international studios have teams like France’s Ubisoft. The Juggernaut, responsible for franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six or Rayman, explained in a press release published on February 25: “We have taken steps to fully support our teams.” This is before the evacuation of their employees to neighboring countries.
Ukrainian studios outside their country
For Ukrainian studios, the issue is even more acute. GSC Game World, one of the pearls of the Ukrainian video game industry that developed the post-apocalyptic video game STALKER, has published a letter in support of its national army, as well as a call for donations for soldiers.
A similar reaction from another industry leader, 4AGames. Established in Kyiv in 2005, the Metro 2033 studio, in an interview with the specialized Polygon website, stated that it was confident “in the army, in the nation” of Ukraine. “Victory will be on the side of the good guys,” summed up director Andrei Prokhorov. Ukrainian studios Frogware or Vostok Games also showed confidence.
In neighboring countries, in particular Poland, the sector is also in turmoil. CD Projekt Red, the developers of the famous The Witcher and most recently Cyberpunk 2077, not only declared their support for the Ukrainians. The studio announced a ban on the sale of its games, both physical and digital, on the Russian market.
Techland Games, another Polish studio caught in the spotlight with the recent Dying Light 2, released in late 2021, put their hand in their pocket for their part. On Twitter, the developer announced a donation of one million PLN, or just over 200,000 euros, for a humanitarian association dedicated to the front.
Belarusian case
Developer Wargaming, best known for the World of Tanks series, also made a donation to the Ukrainian Red Cross… but under slightly more difficult circumstances. The studio is indeed of Belarusian origin (a country allied with Moscow), and its creative director also had to be fired after the latter praised the Russian army on Facebook.
At the same time, according to the specialized website gamedeveloper.com, the studio made public its donation of one million dollars and explained that it is doing everything to find a roof for its employees. Part of his team, i.e. 550 employees, operates in Ukraine.
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