A company from Germany developed an online game about the war in Ukraine, “Death from Above”, a drone simulator. The game was released on the Steam platform and is still in development. The player assumes the role of a Ukrainian soldier who controls an unmanned aircraft (drone), aiming to bomb Russian military technology and fighter aircraft.

There are many war games for PC, but a simulator for the war in Ukraine is rare. Even before its release there were debates as to whether such a game was “ethical”.

Death from Above

A propaganda game

“I’m not ashamed to say it, it’s a propaganda game,” says Hedrik Lesser. “We’re purposefully making a simple game that anyone can play, that we take a clear stand on, and treat it with a degree of humor.” Lesser is the head of the new company Lesser Evil, as well as the owner and CEO of the independent company Remote Control Productions. He is an experienced player with an interest in politics, history, philosophy and war in Ukraine, a country he has been to.

The first version of the game is bilingual – in English and Ukrainian. The player assumes the role of a Ukrainian soldier for 90 minutes and bombs, among other things, Russian vehicles and military technology bearing the letters “V” and “Z”. The action takes place in fictional locations. There is a large dose of what Lesser calls “humor”, for example a “Saint Javelina” meme (as the American Javelin anti-tank weapon is worshiped in Ukraine) or a wanted poster for International Criminal Court with photo of Russian President Putin.

Videogame

Hendrik Lesser

Donations to the Ukrainian army

Ukrainians have also worked on the game, in design and music. For example, in the game there is a song called “My Falcon”, which is the title of the game in Ukrainian, written by the group “Antytila” (Antibodies), which is very popular in Ukraine.

Singer Taras Topolia told DW that the band immediately decided to participate. Most importantly, “money from the game will be given as aid to the Ukrainian army.” The manufacturing company promises to donate an initial 30% and, after reaching break even point, 70% of profits to two Ukrainian organizations that provide “non-aggressive assistance” to the Ukrainian military. This is the “Come back alive” foundation and the “Army of Drones” project. He was assured that the money could be used to buy reconnaissance drones, but not attack drones, according to Lesser, who admits, however, that “I can’t be absolutely sure” about that.

Moral doubts in the West

Even before the game was released, there were discussions in the Western media about ethics. Some criticized the “bad taste”, others praised the “satire” and compared the work to a Charlie Chaplin film and a parody of Hitler, just with modern media. It’s “perhaps a little bad taste to portray as a simple game a real war, which is still going on,” Benjamin Strobel, a psychologist from Kiel and an expert in computer game programs, told DW. Moreover, “Death from Above” could be accused of mixing “political activism” with “financial interests”.

“Obviously, in war, military personnel kill other military personnel. This is legitimate, this is the reality we live in every day,” says Diana Duchyk, head of the Ukrainian Institute of Mass Media and Communication and a member of the Committee on Journalistic Ethics, who points out that even in Ukraine there may be different opinions about the game .

Ducik adds that she would be disturbed “if the game incited violent incidents against civilians on ethnic grounds,” as Russian television does, where calls for “killing Ukrainians” are heard. “If the game just reflects the reality on the battlefield, where soldiers fight against soldiers, that’s legitimate,” says the expert.

Willingness to “fight back”

Hendrik Lesser claims that his company is “pro-democracy, anti-authoritarianism and anti-racism”. “I don’t want it to say anywhere in the game that all Russians are the same, which I find racist,” Lesser says. In the game there are differences between Russian soldiers, officers, fighters of the Wagner group and drafters, who have a “slightly different moral system”. After the release of the first version, Lesser wants to develop the game to be played with two people. His main motivation, he says, is a desire to “fight back” — not on the battlefield, but on the digital front.