Video games and politics have been intertwined since gaming's earliest days, with many developers using video games as a medium to talk about real-world issues and problems. From massive franchises like Call of Duty and Metal Gear using games using video games as a platform to deliver messages on the harshness of war and its repercussions to indie games like Not for Broadcast giving a unique spin on censorship and extremism, games have long been used as a form of expression for developers trying to send a message to players.
While many players dislike the idea of developers using their games to push political mindsets, games have been long used as a platform to tell these kinds of stories. War is a common theme of many of today's most popular shooters like Call of Duty and Battlefield while world events like 9/11 have affected games like Metal Gear Solid 2. However, with the increasing presence of online media and forums, misinformation has also become rampant, with the most recent presenting footage of popular shooter Arma 3 as real footage from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
A video of Arma 3's gameplay has been making rounds on Twitter, with the footage incorrectly credited as taken from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine presented as the Ukrainian military intercepting Russian fighter planes. Many fans familiar with Arma 3 have quickly jumped to point out the inaccuracy with the footage depicting an American A-10 Thunderbolt/Warthog combating an American anti-air C-RAM vehicle. The footage has been quickly discredited by many Arma players, but the Tweet has still reached over 10,000 likes and nearly 4,000 re-tweets.
This kind of false information spread using Arma 3 would not be the first time the shooter has been embroiled in similar types of controversy. During conflicts late last year between Pakistan and Afghanistan, similar footage from Arma 3 was misrepresented by several news outlets in India, being presented as evidence of Pakistani-supported Taliban forces launching airstrikes against Afghanistan. While the mix-up was quickly rectified, several outlets were criticized for presenting the footage as genuine, whether by ignorance or intent.
While Arma 3 has been out for over eight years, the game continues to maintain a substantial community and even continues to regularly see new DLC with the game seeing multiple expansions throughout last year alone. Last year saw Arma 3 add three major expansions to the game between the Vietnam-themed 'S.O.G. Prairie Fire' in May, the Cold War-themed 'CSLA Iron Curtain' in June, and the most recent 'Western Sahara' coming just a few months ago in November. Arma 3 continues to maintain a passionate community nearly a decade after its launch, even after recent real-world controversies related to the game.
Arma 3 is available now for PC.