Newly released Mundfish’s Atomic Heart was already facing issues when some people spotted a racist spoof in the game which has now added fuel to the already existing controversy around Atomic Heart
Mundfish’s newly released Atomic Heart, a first-person, sci-fi shooter game. Set in an alternate universe has been facing issues and controversies lately. Atomic Heart is now being criticized for showing a cartoon that contains a racist caricature, while the game was already facing controversies.
The deputy minister of Ukraine wrote an official letter to cease digital sales and called out for a ban on Atomic Heart. He stated that the money made from this game might be used to fund Russia’s military operations.
On the other hand, Atomic Heart was facing performance and bug issues lately. Some players on Xbox usually encounter a game-breaking bug that makes it impossible to complete the introductory mission in Atomic Heart.
There have been controversies and praise for the game. Which were somehow created by Mundfish, a Russian developer who relocated its base to Cyprus. Many have pointed out this move as a sign of the company’s duplicitous attempt to hide the origin.
Racist Cartoon Controversy
Now, a negative point has once again focused on the game with the discovery that it probably contains a racist presentation of the cartoon. There are rooms in the game where players can save the game, take a breath, and upgrade their weapons. There’s usually a TV showing random cartoons on the screen.
But sometimes, it displays an actual soviet boy’s cartoon released in 1969 called “Nu, Pogodi!”. One of the episodes that appear in one of the game’s safe rooms is called “Museum”. Which dates back to 1978 showing a picture of an African Tribesman.
It was acceptable at that time in 1978. But, showing this image in 2023 has resulted in anger from some people. Some people said that Mundfish could have added any random scene out of the 22 total episodes.
Most likely developers will remove the footage from the game via an upcoming patch. There was already one update right after the game launch, and no doubt, there will be more updates. Atomic Heart doesn’t support the Ray-tracing graphics option on PC. On the other hand, the 4k ray-tracing gameplay overview trailer was released by Mundfish. This confirms that Mundfish used this trailer as a selling point and marketing strategy.
When asked by the editorial team of RockPaperShotgun, developers confirmed that the Ray-tracing graphics option feature on PC will be added later in the game.
