- Gamers are using a secret room in "CS:GO" to share news about the Ukraine war with Russian players.
- A Finnish newspaper designed the room to bypass Russian censorship and get the news to citizens.
A map in the popular "CS:GO" video game contains a secret room full of shocking news from the war in Ukraine — and gamers are using it to bypass Moscow's strict censorship laws to show its citizens what's really happening during Putin's invasion.
The map "de_voyna", based off of a fictionalized Slavik city, was designed by Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sonamat and uploaded on Monday. It quickly became one of the most popular downloads for the hit online first-person shooter.
Players can find the secret room and read information about Russia's shocking war crimes and high casualties in the ongoing conflict. A map shows Russia's civilian targets in the war, mass graves in Bucha and Irpin, 70,000 Russian deaths in the war so far, and more.
One player, Łukasz Pożyczek, shared a video of the room's location on the map.
—Łukasz Pożyczek (@LukaszPozyczek) May 3, 2023
Helsingin Sonamat designed the map to bypass Russia's strict censorship laws and get their news reporting on the war directly to citizens. They wrote that while "Countless Russians are unaware of what is happening in Ukraine," the secret room is where "they are forced to see the truth with their own eyes."
"CS:GO," is incredibly popular globally, but a good chunk of its player base — around 11%, according to The Economic Times — are Russian. Valve, the creator of "CS:GO," has continued to allow access to the game in Russia; other video game companies have pulled their products after Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
Valve did not immediately respond to our request for comment.