Western media reports that STALKER 2 «enraged Russian propagandists» and they organized a disinformation operation against the Ukrainian game. She spreads fake information that the developers, in exchange for financing the project, conspired with the Ukrainian authorities to find more men of military age.
Western media reports that STALKER 2 «enraged Russian propagandists» and they organized a disinformation operation against the Ukrainian game. She spreads fake information that the developers, in exchange for financing the project, conspired with the Ukrainian authorities to find more men of military age.
As reported by 404 Media, as part of this campaign, a fake vertical video with a watermark of the well-known publication WIRED is distributed on Telegram and in emails directly to journalists. It claims that the game is used to recruit more Ukrainian soldiers and secretly collects players' private data.
«The Ukrainian game STALKER 2 helps the state find citizens suitable for mobilization. An embedded program was discovered in the game’s code that collects data about players and transmits it to the developer’s servers. The program collects data about the player’s device, name, IP address and current location. Information is transmitted every second».
Here is the video itself. We got this via email. The email looked very, very similar to ones previously attributed to a specific Russian disinformation campaign. https://t.co/BLNCKlVB0K pic.twitter.com/KgUKuje30I
— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) November 27, 2024
The video falsely claims that Ukrainian studio GSC Game World made a deal with the Ukrainian government to get funding for the game, and that in exchange it would help «find men fit for mobilization».
Video is also promoted using the same methods and network that previously targeted 404 Media. The French news agency AFP, which along with many other media outlets was also targeted by the same disinformation campaign, previously called it «Operation Matryoshka». The goal of the campaign is to flood journalists' Telegram, social media and mailboxes with false stories that typically paint NATO countries and Ukraine in a bad light, waste reporters' time, and make people distrust the news media in general.
According to 404 Media journalist Emanuel Maiberg, he receives dozens of emails every day with fake stories like STALKER 2 misinformation, and the vast majority of them don’t get any traction. «However, it is worth noting that STALKER 2 attracted the attention and anger of Russian propagandists», — he noted.
The original STALKER game, he said, was a «hugely influential cult hit» with a unique blend of intense simulation, sci-fi horror and open-world role-playing that had never been properly replicated until last week’s release of STALKER 2.
«It’s clear that in addition to being the game that dedicated fans have been waiting for for nearly two decades, STALKER 2 has become a symbol of Ukrainian resilience in the face of a Russian invasion in 2022. Although many of the game’s developers moved to Prague, some of them were completing work on the game under Russian bombings, and team members were sent to the front during active hostilities», — Mayberg recalled.
Previously, screenshots from Russian Telegram channels appeared on the network, which may indicate a campaign to underrate STALKER 2. They offer money to leave negative reviews and comments about the game on Steam and TikTok, ITC reports.
And another funny thing about katsaps and STALKER 2 pic.twitter.com/d3Y0RO1qTW
— Oleg Danylov (@Danko007) November 22, 2024
At the same time, the payment for low grades is offered meager. For a bad comment about STALKER 2, TikTok offers only 80 kopecks, and for a video — 5 rubles for every 200 views. Negative feedback on Steam based on a ready-made template is estimated at 100 rubles (approximately UAH 37). Those who are able to write their own review without a template are offered from 350 to 450 rubles (approximately UAH 128-165).
We will remind you that on Sunday, the Ukrainian game STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl updated its peak online record — at the moment, more than 120,000 players were playing it simultaneously. Studio GSC Game World also revealed what fixes will be included in the first major post-leash patch, which should arrive this week.
