June 01, 2025

Game against Ukraine


Game against Ukraine
Fun? Squad 22 ZOV, Steam.

Perhaps it was inevitable. Between VR museums in schools, a meme-inspired Red Army Choir performance, and crackdowns on absurdist memes, Russia's ongoing War on Ukraine has continued to infiltrate cyberspace.

Now, even gamers can get in on the action.

On May 28, the video game Squad 22: ZOV was published on the online PC game platform Steam. The game has been available in Russia since January, but the international release on the popular American-owned marketplace was delayed.

Russian media attributes this to "Russophobia and intolerance towards the Russian gaming industry" (of course). More likely, the delay was due to the game's sensitive subject matter. Squad 22 is a real-time close-quarters tactical game where players command a team of Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine on maps replicating actual battle sites. According to the developers, the game drew on the experience of veterans of the "Special Military Operation" to create a realistic atmosphere.

From the Steam page, Squad 22 appears to be a weak imitation of Door Kickers, a popular earlier title where players commanded modern American special forces to infiltrate and clear terrorist hideouts in nail-biting firefights. Reviews of Squad 22 currently stand at "Mixed," with 61% positive, with some praising its realism and other decrying it as shoddy propaganda. For reference, reviews of Door Kickers 2 stand at 95% positive.

It also appears that several complaints have been launched towards Steam, so it may only be a matter of time before the game is delisted.

Those crying propaganda may be right: The game's developer and "chief ideologist," Alexander Tolkach, is the son of Russia's former ambassador to Hungary, hardly an impartial party. Still, Russian state media asserts that the game is selling well, even with American audiences: Reportedly, 70% of the game's downloads so far has come from American gamers.

Still, this does not make it a hit, despite Russian state media assertions. According to SteamCharts, an online tool that measures player game traffic, Squad 22 peaked on May 29 with a paltry 50 players on Steam worldwide.

As of the writing of this article, 36 players were in-game. More than 650 were playing Door Kickers 2.

We'll hold off on downloading it until we can play a map of Putin's palace.

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