Ukraine wants Atomic Heart banned for promoting war agenda while the game receives bad reviews for reasons that can lead to a major flop.
Mundfish made huge claims about the game, most of which were accurate, such as details in graphics and game optimization with PC and console hardware. However, it was not just about the performance as the Xbox players faced some unexpected issues along with the stirred controversy that has been around ever since the Russia-Ukraine war engaged.
According to a recent report, the Ukraine Ministry of Digital Transformation has reached tech giants Valve, Sony, and Microsoft to ban Atomic Heart as the storyline is based on a devastating storyline linked to the pro-Russian agenda of destroying the world.
But there is more to this controversy and other factors that could flop Atomic Heart if it doesn’t get banned.
In this article, The CPU Guide brings you the latest updates on why Atomic Heart can lead to a major flop while being a part of international affairs controversy.
What’s the Controversy of Atomic Heart?
Before we jump into the real issues players face, let’s talk about the world’s political situation and how it affects a game receiving a lot of hype. The Atomic Heart is set in the 1950s alternative Soviet Union history, and Mundfish develops it. Now the Mundfish headquarter is based in Cyprus, a country situated in the Middle East. Mundfish only has offices in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia. Therefore, it’s clear that Russia is not the origin of Mundfish.
But the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Alex Bornyakov, had concerns about how Atomic Heart promotes Russia’s capability to engage in wars. In an interview on 21st February 2023, he revealed his plan by giving the following statement.
We also call for limiting the distribution of this game in other countries due to its toxicity, potential collection of user data, and the possibility of transferring it to third parties in Russia, as well as the potential use of money from purchases of the game to wage war against Ukraine.
What’s Currently Happening in this Controversy?
Currently, three developments are made following the plan Alex Bornyakov discussed in his interview, and the following developments are expected to occur.
- The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine will ask Sony, Microsoft, and Valve for a complete ban on the sales of Atomic Heart’s digital copies in Ukraine and limit the sales in those countries that are showing solidarity with Ukraine in times of war.
- The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine also claims that Atomic Heart received funding from Russian Enterprises and banks, which faced sanctions and are of great importance to the Russian government.
- The Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine also urged all game users to boycott Mundfish as they didn’t pass a statement on facing the controversy.
However, the last statement is not completely true, as Mundfish noticed the heat they were facing from the fans and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine. But that’s not entirely true, as Mundfish responded via a Tweet, which is now hidden from social media, so here is a complete thread of what the game development studio had to say.
Reasons Why Atomic is Expected to Get Banned
Besides the international controversy, Atomic Heart is also getting controversial in the review section. Here we have discussed the reasons that could lead to its flop on various platforms.
No Multiplayer
Yes, you read that right. Mundfish has reversed the multiplayer course of Atomic Heart, making it a single-player action game with a storyline that has multiple endings. This news was confirmed in a Q&A session of Wccftech, which was a contradictory statement of what the development team said back in 2019 in a similar interview session.
Rushy Gameplay
The Atomic Heart does seem like a game where the scenes pass by pretty quickly, and it is certainly true about the gameplay as well. We mentioned in our Atomic Heart review how vast the crafting experience could be in the open-world exploration. But it is not the same regarding cutscenes or combats during a mission.
Bad Script
Probably the most annoying thing in Atomic Heart is the dialogue script. The game seems awful when speaking and conversing with another protagonist. Yes, they are worse than the dialogues in Forspoken. Our character seems already in a bad mood, spitting curse words in every sentence. As for others, it’s all a cringe-worthy mess. While playing the game, I wondered if I should put it on mute or simply lower the dialogue volume.
Final Words
In conclusion, I would say that Atomic Heart seems fun with flaws. There is only a slight chance that Mundfish would consider making improvements against the reasons I mentioned in this article to save it from a major flop. Despite a couple of games facing many players, the game was able to run just fine.
Did you face any issues during Atomic Heart? Share your thoughts in the comments.
