Ukraine’s government wants ‘toxic’ Atomic Heart pulled from sale over Russia links

The Ukrainian government has said it will ask Sony, Microsoft and Valve is pulling Atomic Heart from sale on its digital stores in the country.

A game with Soviet and Russian military themes was released PC, Game drive and Xbox consoles on Tuesday, just days before the first anniversary of Russia’s occupation of Ukraine.

It has become the subject of controversy over its ties to Russia, including claims that the Russian government benefits financially from its release because it owns a majority of the game’s investors.

In a statement originally given to the Ukrainian website Dev.au and later in English PCGamesNUkraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Alex Bornyakov, urged the platform owners to limit the distribution of the game in other countries as well.

“Regarding the release of the game Atomic Heart, which romanticizes Russian roots and communist ideology and the Soviet Union, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine sends an official letter to Sony, Microsoft and Valve demanding a ban on the sale of digital versions of this game in Ukraine,” he said.

“We also call for limiting the spread of this game in other countries due to its toxicity, possible data collection possible use of money collected from users and game purchases to wage war against Ukraine.

According to media reports, the development of the game was financed by Russian companies”, the statement added. “Therefore, we ask all users around the world to avoid this game. We also want to emphasize that the developers of the games have not publicly condemned the Putin regime and the bloody war that Russia has launched against Ukraine.

In addition to its retail release, Atomic Heart was available through Xbox Game Pass for console and PC on Tuesday.