 Amidst its war with Ukraine, Russia is using games like Minecraft to push pro-Kremlin values onto unsuspecting players. When the Russia-Ukraine war began, almost the entirety of the video game industry unambiguously expressed support for Ukraine. EA deleted Russian teams from its sports games and major publishers like Sony and Nintendo pulled their businesses out of Russia altogether. This has prompted Russia to try and cultivate its own gaming industry, with President Vladimir Putin pushing the country's own 'cyberchampionship' gaming tournament. It's also reported that Russia is making use of certain video games to spread propaganda about its invasion of Ukraine, in particular Minecraft and Roblox. Considering both games allow players to create and customise their own content, they are, admittedly, perfect choices for ensuring pro-Russia messaging can reach a wide audience. Not to mention, Minecraft and Roblox are especially popular with young children who are likely to be less familiar with the exact details of the conflict. The New York Times reports coming across user created worlds in Minecraft and Roblox that depict Russian parades and the Russian flag placed over Ukrainian territory. One in-game Minecraft concert, held to celebrate Russia Day, was even hosted and streamed by a Russian government official; one whose mother is a close ally of Putin. Putin himself has already stated that video games can be used to promote education 'within the framework of universal human values and within the framework of patriotism.' Roblox in particular has become very popular in Russia in the last few years, perhaps thanks to so many other games pulling out, and a 2021 report by Wired suggests it's become a hotbed for fascists and anti-Semitism. Neither Microsoft (which owns Minecraft) nor Roblox Corporation have issued a comment on their products being used to spread propaganda. Minecraft – Microsoft is bound to alr){kind=link}
Amidst its war with Ukraine, Russia is using games like Minecraft to push pro-Kremlin values onto unsuspecting players.
When the Russia-Ukraine war began, almost the entirety of the video game industry unambiguously expressed support for Ukraine. EA deleted Russian teams from its sports games and major publishers like Sony and Nintendo pulled their businesses out of Russia altogether.
This has prompted Russia to try and cultivate its own gaming industry, with President Vladimir Putin pushing the country’s own ‘cyberchampionship’ gaming tournament.
It’s also reported that Russia is making use of certain video games to spread propaganda about its invasion of Ukraine, in particular Minecraft and Roblox.
Considering both games allow players to create and customise their own content, they are, admittedly, perfect choices for ensuring pro-Russia messaging can reach a wide audience.