Escape from Tarkov fans are scrutinizing alleged sympathies for the Russian invasion of Ukraine within Battlestate Games: ‘If I could refund it I would’
Today, a thread on resetera from user RedbullCola titled “Escape from Tarkov directly funds the Invasion of Ukraine through partnerships” linked to a pair of imgur galleries that has been traded around on social media before.
The two galleries show a series of images that draw an apparent close relationship between Battlestate Games, particularly COO Nikita Buyanov, and Russian gun enthusiasts 715 Team. The images show Buyanov in pictures with 715 Team members, firing guns with them, and show in-game screenshots of alleged tributes to the group—graffiti and cosmetics that read “715” and “train hard,” part of the group’s slogan.
To reiterate, Battlestate Games has never voiced formal support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Still, the alleged relationships described amid the reports and forum posts are garnering attention on social media, as seen in this Reddit thread posted by Suibeam. The most-upvoted comment on that thread reads, “Not only is their game a buggy piece of shit, they’re straight up bad people.” Another from user Captain_Leemu reads, “It genuinely makes me feel sick to know that innocent people are dying and the murderers are using money from a game I bought. If I could refund it I would. Fuck Nikita.”
The role of modern military shooters, and mass-consumption entertainment writ large, in jingoist propaganda is both widespread in many countries and well-documented. The US military uses games like Call of Duty actively in its recruitment strategies as reported by The Guardian, and Hollywood films that portray the Department of Defense have a long history of cooperation with the Pentagon in exchange for access to equipment—Iron Man and 007: Tomorrow Never Dies, for example. When MCU flick Captain Marvel took to theaters, the United States Air Force was quick to cross-promote the movie.
