The Russian media regulator, Roskomnadzor, blocks access to various foreign press organizations and maintains censorship over content it sees as a means of spreading disinformation about the war in Ukraine. A Censorship is carried out on many channels, television, radio, and the Internet, but video games seem not to be scrutinized by Putin’s government..
Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat (which is also banned in Russia), in collaboration with creative agency Milton, Created a map for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, one of the most popular competitive eSports video games, with the aim of publishing informative content about the war in Ukraine.. CS:GO is very popular in Russia, with around 4 million Russians playing.
The map in question is called de_voyna, and how it is A fast companyyou Players can access verified press coverage of what the Russian military is doing in Ukraine, war atrocities against the Ukrainian people, and other information prohibited by Russia’s regulator.. Players can interact with photos and voice recordings about the reality of the battlefields and what the Russian military is doing in Ukraine.
See in the gallery images of the map of CS: GO de_voyna:
oh The project was launched as an initiative of World Free Press Day, which is celebrated today. According to Antero Mukka, editor-in-chief of Helsing’s Sanomat, “we found that online gaming is not yet banned or blocked in Russia”. The idea came after a planning session when Milton’s creative director was driving home. As a CS:GO player, he remembers to draw maps and cover pieces of independent press to give to Russian players themselves.
The Milton Institute commissioned the drawing from two creative experts from Australia and Denmark. The brief was to create a city inspired by Slavic architecture, specifically chosen to echo some of the Ukrainian cities that had been desecrated during the invasion by Russian soldiers. The creators (who have nothing to do with the game’s publisher Valve) consulted with some Russian friends to create details including branding and logos on the map that gamers in Russia would recognize. oh The end result is a map with some similarities to Gerson.
at Official page Of the map, on Steam, it says in the description “At first glance it looks like an ordinary Slavic city. However, there seems to be something hidden inside..”
Sanomat of Helsing expects the map to attract a lot of attention, people need to know what’s going on. Above all, let the gamers know that there is another reality compared to what the Russian state provides for its population. “Although the program reached a small fraction of the 4 million Russian soldiers, it could mean the difference between someone’s life and death.”, emphasized Rube Sandberg. On the other hand, the game’s main audience is young men of military age, who are thus informed about their country’s actions against Ukraine.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”