What To Do, Valve?

So... I guess we'll talk about "Squad 22: ZOV".

You're probably not familiar with the game. I certainly wasn't
(hopefully most people never will). Released a couple weeks ago,
"Squad 22 ZOV" is a Russian game that promotes the Russian invasion of
Ukraine, supported by the Russian military and filled with
anti-Ukrainian imagery and propaganda. It's not -according to the few
people who've played it- a particularly good game either (it is
frequently described as a bad "Doorkickers" clone). An utterly
forgettable, terrible game that wouldn't ever be noticed under normal
circumstances.

Except it's on Steam, and Valve has been notoriously hands off about
it.

Now, on the one hand, sure; the game /technically/ isn't breaking any
of Steam's rules for what sort of games Valve allows on their
platform. I say technically because, you know, the Russians are
_still_ invading and killing Ukrainians (even if most USAmericans seem
to have turned a blind eye to the war), and this sort of game promotes
those violent actions. Arguably, it could be seen as a call to
violence by Russians against Ukrainians (Steam has a rule about
promoting real-world violence). It's also using the letters ZOV which
are associated with the Russian military and in particular indicate
support of the invasion. So there is good argument that at least some
of Valve's publishing guidelines are being violated. Anyway, Valve has
pulled games that featured currently active conflicts in the past.

Of course, there are lots of other propaganda-laden games on the
market; "America's Army" is often specifically called out as a game
intentionally designed to recruit young people, and Steam is fine with
that one, so "Squad 22" should be safe, right? Except "America's Army"
(and other jingoistic games, like the entirety of the "Call of Duty"
franchise) are very careful to not specify actual active conflicts;
they're either scrubbed of any clear identity for its enemies or are
fictionalized. You can't say that for "Squad 22 ZOV".

Besides, the argument goes, if Valve takes a stand against the Russian
invasion of Ukraine, what's next? Might they next ban games promoting
transgender lifestyles? Or mixed-race relationships? Or any sort of
sexuality? And yeah, you're right; they _could_. I just don't think
they _would_. "Squad 22" is actively promoting a war where people are
currently being killed. I don't think a "hey, let's not promote an
active conflict" is really that much of a stretch for Valve.

But even if that were not the case... is it really too much to ask for
Valve to take a stand on some issues? Even if "Squad 22" isn't against
any of their rules, its perfectly okay for a store owner to say, "You
know, I don't want that sort of product sold in my store." It's not a
terrible thing to have standards, is it? Or for people to know what a
company actually believes in.

On the other hand, I understand Valve's reluctance. Russia is a /huge/
market for Valve. The Russian-speaking demographics constitute ten
percent of its users (almost as much as the Spanish, German, French,
Japanese-speaking users combined*). So financially its understandable
if Valve is hesitant to risk that revenue (even if its likely a lot of
this traffic is generated by bots manipulating Steam's gambling
marketplace). And surely we can't ask a company to ever not do
anything for a profit, right?

But you know what? I have no issue demanding that Valve look beyond
the dollar signs when people's lives are on the line. Hell, I'm not
all that thrilled that Valve is still doing business in Russia _at
all_, given how most of the western world has otherwise backed away
from that too.


So I don't think it's too much to ask Valve to actually take a stand
for once. This isn't really that controversial an issue, after all.
The Russian invasion was an act of unprovoked war and has been
condemned by pretty much everyone. Arguably the game breaks Steam's
own rules, and even if not, Steam has reserved itself the right -and
has used that right in the past-- to take down games it disagrees
with. They can do the same with this game.


What to do, Valve? That's a real easy problem. Kick "Squad 22 ZOV" out
of your store.




Slava Ukraini!


* as of 2024: English-speaking users: 36%; Chinese-speaking: 23%.
Russian-speaking: 10%; Spanish: 5%; German: 2.9%; French: 2.3%;
Japanese: 2.1% https://www.demandsage.com/steam-statistics/