Russian fake video claims the game is leaking player data to military recruitment centers

A Russian disinformation network appears to be targeting STALKER 2.

404media publication reports, volThe media reported that the attackers distributed a fake vertical video with a fake WIRED watermark via Telegram and journalists’ mail. The video falsely claims that the game is being used to search for potential recruits and collect players’ personal data.

Here is the video. We received this via email. The email looked very, very similar to those previously attributed to a specific Russian disinformation campaign. pic.twitter.com/KgUKuje30I

— Joseph Cox (@josephfcox) November 27, 2024

The video claims that STALKER 2’s developers, GSC Game World, allegedly struck a deal with the Ukrainian government to fund the game in exchange for help “finding people suitable for mobilization.”

This fake is being spread using the same methods and through the same network that attacked 404 Media in March. The French news agency AFP, which was also the target of a disinformation campaign along with other media outlets, called it “Operation Matryoshka“. According to researchers at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Laboratory (DFRL), the goal of the campaign is to flood Telegram, social media and journalists’ emails with fake stories. Such stories usually embarrass NATO countries and Ukraine, waste journalists’ time, and undermine trust in the mass media.

The author of the article on 404media writes that every day he receives dozens of emails with fake stories like the one about Stalker 2. Most of them don’t get any publicity except for a few tweets that X (Twitter) usually deletes.

We recently wrote that the Russians are actively trying to discredit STALKER 2, purchase negative reviews