Although, unlike Donetsk, Verkhdansk is surrounded by high mountains, at least the fictional city has a stadium that looks exactly like the Donbass Arena – the home of Ukraine’s best soccer club, Shakhtar Donetsk, which opened in 2009. Moreover, the international airport of Verkhdansk is modeled after the Donetsk “Prokofiev Airport”, which was completely destroyed during the fighting between pro-Russian separatists and the Ukrainian army between June 2014 and January 2015. Of course, the depiction of Donetsk in the 16th “Call of Duty” series, released on October 24, 2019, did not go unnoticed either in Ukraine or in Russia.

“It is a world-famous game,” explained popular gamer Alex_D20 in an interview with “Radio Svoboda”. “The fact that the events in Ukraine are reflected in the game at least means that they will become better known in the world.” The reactions in Ukraine were indeed considerable. Headlines like “Donbass Arena can now be bombed by anyone,” could be read in some Ukrainian media. “The Russians are offended. So I really need to test the game,” wrote user ns3230 in the comment columns of “Tribuna.com”. His comment is the most liked. But not everyone is so enthusiastic. “In ‘Call of Duty’ military operations are mostly held in third world countries. Congratulations on that to all of us,” reads another entry.

Russia is not at all pleased with its representation in “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare”. The reference to Donetsk is probably not the only reason. While Kastovia is supposed to be a mix of Ukraine and Georgia, the fantasy realm of Ursikstan, on the other hand, is a country in the Middle East that has been ravaged by a terrible civil war for many years, in which Russia is also militarily involved. A rebel movement supported by Britain and the United States is finally forming in Ursikstan with the goal of driving Russian troops out of the country. Russian media speak of obvious parallels to the Syrian conflict.

But it is not only the state media that criticize “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare”. The famous Russian game blogger Ilya Madison was supposed to promote the game. However, half an hour before the start of the advertising campaign, he canceled. “Only assholes can get excited about a game that talks pretty directly about your home country’s soldiers being terrorists,” he explained. Yet Madison had not previously stood out as a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin. On the contrary, on several occasions he has sharply criticized Internet censorship in Russia. Ultimately, the release of the game on the Playstation in Russia failed, on PC and Xbox, however, the game has appeared.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” is not the first computer game to address the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. In 2014, for example, appeared “Combat Mission: Black Sea”, in which Russia occupies the Crimean peninsula. In response to the occupation, Ukraine joins NATO. A short time later, a war breaks out between the two countries. Incidentally, this game was developed from 2009, long before the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. But the popularity of “Combat Mission: Black Sea” is not at all comparable to that of “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare”, because the new game, despite all the criticism in Russia, is recording record sales. Perhaps the virtual Donetsk also contributes to this.