Fake news has been the daily bread in the ukrainian war. Information of dubious credibility emerges from both Russia and the invaded country. It is also worrying that the authors of these reports increasingly resort to a wider range of tools to make the material as credible as possible. In this reprehensible warfare, in fact, are using a popular PC video game to create fake news.
Is about weapon 3a shooting title that, unlike others First Person Shooter What call of duty either battle field, commitment to a realistic experience. It’s a niche “sim” to be sure, but it still has a significant player base globally. Unfortunately, lately it is being used for very different purposes than it was created for.
A research of Bohemia Interactivea European company responsible for the development and distribution of weapon 3, found that his game is the basis for creating fake videos about the war in Ukraine. His goal is to manipulate the audience by making them believe situations that have not actually happened.
The problem gets bigger when they go viral and they are disseminated, for example, in the media or social networks. The Ukrainian war, of course, remains a topic of conversation and debate in many parts of the world.
“These user-created videos have the potential to go viral and are shared massively on social media, sometimes even by various media outlets or official government institutions around the world.”
Now, it is important to mention that weapon 3 it is far from offering a graphic section at the height of a big budget title. So… how is it possible that some people fail to distinguish between reality and a video game? Well, there is an explanation.
Those people who use weapon 3 to create fake news edit the captured material. Just by adding some filters and a fog effect you can get results that are as surprising as they are worrying; to such a degree that it is difficult to realize that it is a game. You can see it yourself in the following video shared by Bohemia Interactive:
Custom Mods To Create Fake News About The Ukraine War
Another reason why it is used weapon 3 to create fake news about the Ukrainian war is because, like other PC titles, the community can create mod. That is, custom elements that alter or improve the original experience of the game. Therefore, it is easy to develop custom settings, vehicles, weapons and all the virtual equipment that the scene requires.
“This means that the players of weapon 3 they can recreate and simulate any historical, present or future conflict in great detail (thanks to their advanced game engine). This unique freedom provided by the platform of weapon 3 has one drawback: videos captured on weapon 3especially when modifying the game, they are quite capable of spreading fake news“, admits the study.
Bohemia Interactive has tried to get fake videos about the war in Ukraine removed from platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram, but the task is quite difficult. The reason? Because when they manage to drop one, ten more are going up.
“We found that the best way to address this is to actively cooperate with mainstream media and fact-checkers (such as AFP, Reuters and others), which have better reach and the ability to combat the spread of fake news images effectively,” they add.
The study shares some distinctive features of fake material.
- They use very low resolution camera.
- Shots taken in dark conditions.
- They usually have no sound.
- The scenes do not have moving people.
- Effects of particles whose behavior is not natural (explosions, for example).
- Elements of the game’s interface creep into the recording.
- The vehicles, uniforms and military equipment do not look realistic.