Indie Czech developer Bohemia Interactive has issued their official statement after footage of their game Arma 3 was used as fake news. The developer stated to ensure that Arma 3 footage is no longer falsely used as footage from real-life conflicts, mainly from the current war in Ukraine. The developer details that these footages are user-made, and they have the potential to go viral, which are then massively shared by social media users.
There have been some cases where such false footage was even used by various mainstream media and government institutions worldwide. Bohemia Interactive wants to take this opportunity to educate the world on how to distinguish between real-world footage and video game footage. You can check out a comparison video below:
Commenting on the situation, Pavel Křižka, PR Manager of Bohemia Interactive, said:
While it’s flattering that Arma 3 simulates modern war conflicts in such a realistic way, we are certainly not pleased that it can be mistaken for real-life combat footage and used as war propaganda. It has happened in the past (Arma 3 videos allegedly depicted conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine, and even between India and Pakistan), but nowadays this content has gained traction in regard to the current conflict in Ukraine. We’ve been trying to fight against such content by flagging these videos to platform providers (FB, YT, TW, IG etc.), but it’s very ineffective. With every video taken down, ten more are uploaded each day. We found the best way to tackle this is to actively cooperate with leading media outlets and fact-checkers (such as AFP, Reuters, and others), who have better reach and the capacity to fight the spreading of fake news footage effectively.
To distinguish between real and fake footage, Bohemia Interactive has shared some guidelines that you must always follow every time you come across similar footage.
- Very low resolution
- Even dated smartphones can provide videos in HD quality. Fake videos are usually of much lower quality and are intentionally pixelated and blurry to hide the fact that they’re taken from a video game.
- Shaky camera
- To add dramatic effect, these videos are often not captured in-game. The authors film a computer screen with the game running in low quality and with an exaggerated camera shake.
- Often takes place in the dark / at night
- The footage is often dark to hide the video game scene’s insufficient level of detail.
- Mostly without sound
- In-game sound effects are often distinguishable from reality.
- Doesn’t feature people in motion
- While the game can simulate the movement of military vehicles relatively realistically, capturing natural-looking humans in motion is still very difficult, even for the most modern of games.
- Heads-up display (HUD) elements visible
- Sometimes, the game’s user interfaces, such as weapon selection, ammunition counters, vehicle status, in-game messages, etc., are visible. These commonly appear at the edges or in the corners of the footage.
- Unnatural particle effects
- Even the most modern games have a problem with naturally depicting explosions, smoke, fire, and dust, as well as how they’re affected by environmental conditions. Look for oddly separated cloudlets in particular.
- Unrealistic vehicles, uniforms, equipment
- People with advanced military equipment knowledge can recognize the use of unrealistic military assets for a given conflict. For instance, in one widely spread fake video, the US air defense system C-RAM shoots down a US A-10 ground attack plane. Units can also display non-authentic insignias, camouflage, etc.
In the end, Bohemia Interactive is also asking all of the content creators and players of Arma 3 to use their in-game footage responsibly and try to use filters that clearly identify them as video games so that they cannot be used as fake news. They should also try to avoid click-bait titles and always mention that the footage is from a video game and is not depicting real-life events. Arma 3 is a unique open-world sandbox platform game that allows users to create their own scenarios and even create new units, vehicles, and terrains and then share them with users around the world for them to try out.
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For additional details, you can check out the official press release over at Bohemia’s official website.
