Russia’s propaganda has made its way into video games. Ukrainian cybersecurity company, Molfar, has identified over a dozen cases of disinformation in games such as Minecraft, Roblox, and World of Tanks (New York Times). In Minecraft, Russian players recreated the battle of Soledar that ended in January with the capture of the Ukrainian city, posting their efforts onto the popular social media platform VKontakte (New York Times). Government officials have also taken part in this – Ekaterina Mizulina, a member of the Civic Chamber of Russia, used the video game to host a concert in celebration of Russia Day (TechSpot/New York Times).
In April of 2023, Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, notified the public that the company’s security teams discovered there were efforts made by the Russian administration to “penetrate” gaming communities, using the activities in Minecraft as an example of such (New York Times). Even the president of Russia himself, Vladimir Putin, touched on the potential of the video game industry, calling it a “colossal business” during a meeting in July. “A game should help a person develop, help him find himself, should help educate a person both within the framework of universal human values and within the framework of patriotism,” he added.
Clint Watts, head of Microsoft’s threats analysis team, told New York University researchers that the Wagner Group, Russia’s military force, used both video games and other online communities such as Discord and Steam to spread misinformation about the war against Ukraine. Since these communities are mostly made up of younger age groups, there is a higher chance that they are “less familiar with the exact details of the conflict” (Metro News).
In a conference held in July, it was reported that 25% of Russian citizens played video games, making them valuable assets for the government to gain ahold of. Dr. Joseph Brown, an assistant professor at Thompson Rivers University, has seen firsthand just how far the country is willing to go during the 5 years that he had spent teaching there. As he recalls to The New York Times, “They need to get everybody back on board with the war. It’s another piece of this whole puzzle of constant propaganda, all the time. In every single medium they can get to you with, they will get to you.”
In April of 2023, Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft, notified the public that the company’s security teams discovered there were efforts made by the Russian administration to “penetrate” gaming communities, using the activities in Minecraft as an example of such (New York Times). Even the president of Russia himself, Vladimir Putin, touched on the potential of the video game industry, calling it a “colossal business” during a meeting in July. “A game should help a person develop, help him find himself, should help educate a person both within the framework of universal human values and within the framework of patriotism,” he added.
Clint Watts, head of Microsoft’s threats analysis team, told New York University researchers that the Wagner Group, Russia’s military force, used both video games and other online communities such as Discord and Steam to spread misinformation about the war against Ukraine. Since these communities are mostly made up of younger age groups, there is a higher chance that they are “less familiar with the exact details of the conflict” (Metro News).
In a conference held in July, it was reported that 25% of Russian citizens played video games, making them valuable assets for the government to gain ahold of. Dr. Joseph Brown, an assistant professor at Thompson Rivers University, has seen firsthand just how far the country is willing to go during the 5 years that he had spent teaching there. As he recalls to The New York Times, “They need to get everybody back on board with the war. It’s another piece of this whole puzzle of constant propaganda, all the time. In every single medium they can get to you with, they will get to you.”
