The worldʼs largest gaming platform for children, Roblox, has removed two games that allowed players to fight and kill each other on the side of the Russians or Ukrainians.
This is reported by the BBC.
The company said both games violated community standards and removed them within four hours of being contacted by the BBC. A Roblox spokesperson said: “We have strict community standards that govern the depiction of real-life events. Both games were removed for violating our standards after being evaluated by the moderation team."
One of the games was called War on Larkiv: Ukraine, it was played 90,000 times in less than two weeks, and its rating was 71%. On the game page it was written: “Take your weapon and choose a side to fight in the war for Larkiv. Just now, heavy battles are taking place in the fictional city of Larkiv, soldiers are fighting with a sense of hope." Players could choose to fight for Ukraine or Russia. The BBC monitored the game intermittently for two days and found that the game has a consistent player base of between 10 and 40 people, many of whom communicate in English, Ukrainian and Russian in the in-game chat.
Another game was called Battle for Ukraine, it was on the site for several months. In it, players could see the bombing of cities, such as Mariupol.
Ukrainian game developer Hrysha Bolshakov, who is in the UK due to the war, said that he did not try to make War on Larkiv: Ukraine an entertaining game: "Obviously, a game with such a loud topic has resonance and interest on social platforms, but I would never did not touch this topic for an entertainment product. It doesnʼt help morale the players or really look at some pretty sad things. Itʼs just a mockery of the meat grinder thatʼs going on in the world."