A new game hit Steam yesterday—Squad 22: ZOV. Claiming to be "officially recommended by the Russian Military for use as a basic infantry tactic manual for cadet and Yunarmy [Russia's state organisation for young army cadets] training" and set in the ongoing war in Ukraine, Squad 22 puts you in command of teams of Russian troops as they fight the Ukrainian Armed Forces, take prisoners, and rescue hostages.
It is the only release by either developer SPN Studio or publisher Zarobana Entertainment, and claims to present "history as it is," inviting potential players to "delve into the complexities of the 2014 and 2022-2024 events [the annexation of Crimea and invasion of Ukraine, respectively] through compelling campaigns." The developer says it has designed the game based on "insights from Russian veterans and active soldiers," some of whom it names on the Squad 22 website.
The Russian military is currently subject to an International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine. Russian president Vladimir Putin is subject to an ICC arrest warrant for the unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children. As you might imagine, the apparently sanitised view of Russia's role in the war that Squad 22 depicts has stirred controversy.
Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians alike have denounced the game as Russian war propaganda that should have no place on Steam. The Ukrainian state's Centre for Countering Disinformation called the game "Russian propaganda" as long ago as last year, while the game's Steam reviews currently sit at a Mixed rating, as users describe it with phrases like "an ethical abomination that deserves universal condemnation." More than a few users on social media call for Squad 22 to be removed from Steam and, indeed, ask how it ever got there in the first place.
I reached out to SPN to ask about the process of getting onto Steam, and lead dev Alexander Tolkach told me that the game "went through [a] very long moderation process. Valve's team literally requested access to all in-game content and checked it for about 60 days," as compared to what Tolkach calls a more usual "5-7 days' timing." Tolkach says the devs were careful to "feature only legal things inside—after all, it is just a tactical game, not a long text-rich quest, and all our art is checked not to feature any extremes of violence," so it passed.
I've reached out to Valve to ask if that's a fair description of the process, and I'll update this piece if I hear back.
Tolkach told me that the idea for Squad 22 "came from GVPU," Russia's Military-Political Directorate, but says funding came from "our own savings and in majority by a private investor.
"I was contacted by a GVPU representative, saying they are looking for a team who would dare to try such a project. I said that I have a number of ideas in my head, but we'd need to find money for that to set up a studio. They answered they can't help us with money, but will help [by] providing any meaningful info for the game. Well, in the end… that helped to find a sponsor."
Tolkach also claims that money spent on Squad 22 doesn't filter back to the Russian military: "All proceeds from the game go to pay out team salaries while continuing to improve the game. If we earn more than needed, we will invest in a new game project." I find that a little hard to believe, personally, but without a dev or member of the Russian military saying otherwise, it's all we have to go on. At the very least, you'd think Russian members of the dev team are going to be paying income tax to the state.
Regardless, all of these details just elide the issue that the game is set in an ongoing war that's destroyed huge swathes of Ukraine and harmed millions of Ukrainians. It might not technically violate Steam's terms of service, but it certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Tolkach says he understands that: "Of course it is problematic. I understand why 99% of game developers stick to either long past (up to WWII) or fictional settings. And I understand Ukrainian players don't like us.
"Maybe it'd be logical if Steam closes game sales for Ukraine, as they, by the way, did for Russia… But we have the right to tell the stories of our people. As a game designer and producer I always took maximum care to verify as much as possible that we put in only facts and ideas we know are real.
"I don't think you can deny that Western media are flooded with [a lot of] disinformation… So, we have all rights to defend our dignity and show the world how we see this conflict and, more importantly, why it actually began."
True or not, I doubt many players will be willing to take the word of a game that claims the backing of Russia's own military at face value.
