The first person action game atomic heart of Mundfish is criticized for showing a cartoon containing a racist cartoon. The game, which is set in an alternate history in which the Soviet Union won World War II, was already the subject of controversy even before its release.
Mostly, Ukraine has called for Atomic Heart to be banned, and the country’s digital affairs secretary has said the money raised from its sale could be used to fund Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
The game, created by Mundfish, a Russian developer who moved its base of operations to Cyprus, has been both condemned and praised. Many pointed to the move as a sign of the company’s deceptive attempt to hide its origins.
The situation has not been helped by the Atomic Heart developer’s vague statements about the war in Ukraine, although Mundfish maintains that its only intention is to remain apolitical.
Now a negative lens has been put back on the game after it was discovered to apparently contain a racist cartoon. Atomic Heart has safe rooms like those in Resident Evil, which give the player a chance to catch their breath, save progress, and upgrade or craft items.
In these rooms there is a television which normally only shows a white screen. However, it occasionally shows a Soviet children’s cartoon called Nu, Pogodi!, which first aired in 1969 and has been compared to Tom and Jerry.
One of the episodes that appears on Atomic Heart’s safe room screen is called “Museum”, which is from 1978 and shows a racially stereotypical image of an African tribesman. These cartoons were sometimes seen in old cartoons of the time and were generally considered acceptable at the time.
Yet the appearance of these images in 2023 has angered some. Mundfish is unlikely to have added this particular scene, out of a total of 22 episodes to choose from, without realizing its contents. Its inclusion therefore fueled the fire of the already existing controversy surrounding the game.