However, Atomic Heart’s place in the discourse is not unique.

The criticism that Atomic Heart will enrich Russian entities is technically accurate, due to being backed by a Russian financier. There's a lot to unpack, but it seems clear that the controversy around Atomic Heart may soon be a familiar one, as big-budget game production further globalizes in tandem with heightened tensions between global powers. Critics of the game suggest that purchasing it directly supports Russia’s war in Ukraine, that the game is a piece of Russian propaganda valorizing the Soviet Union, and that the game includes anti-Ukranian elements.

These connections to Russian state-owned and state-sanctioned enterprises have led to some people questioning the game’s relationship to the Russian government and its ongoing war in Ukraine, leading to calls for a boycott. As the years went on, details about the game solidified and, following a pretty horny viral marketing campaign, the game’s release has been surprisingly successful for a new studio, and has spawned a significant amount of public discourse surrounding the game’s content and its developer's origins. The game was met with a mixed reaction upon its announcement, as the reveal featured no gameplay and it was being published by a studio that had not previously shipped a video game. You play as a soldier investigating a massive Soviet facility that has come under attack from the robots which were formerly staffing it, and are tasked with finding and stopping the person responsible for the attacks. The game is a Bioshock-esque first person shooter.

Since its announcement over five years ago, controversy has followed Atomic Heart-made by Cyprus-headquartered developer Mundfish-ranging from concerns about whether or not the game was actually real upon its announcement, to questions over the developer’s relationship to the Russian government.

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