In Britain, a scandal erupted in which one of the military personnel was involved, who is an avid gamer after hours. The man did not like how his favorite game War Thunder presents the Challenger 2 tank, which is in service with the British army.
War Thunder is a multiplayer game featuring sample cars and all kinds of military equipment. Its developer is Gaijin Entertainment, which originally appeared in Moscow and then moved to Cyprus. Today the company has branches in Germany, Hungary and Latvia.
Posing as the commander of the Challenger 2 tank, the user posted on the forum fragments of classified materials concerning the technical characteristics of the combat vehicle, in particular, we are talking about the manual for the maintenance of military equipment (AESP). Thus, the gamer wanted to show that the game developers did not quite correctly model the tank, as well as help them improve their creation and improve the appearance of the tank. In order not to raise additional questions, the gamer crossed out the secrecy label “for limited use” on the documents, adding a note that this information is no longer classified. In this case, part of the data placed on the documents was darkened.
But the developers of these materials raised doubts. They immediately realized that they were dealing with classified materials and sent a request to the British Ministry of Defense with a request to verify the information. The military department, in turn, reported that the published data are still secret.
After that, the developers turned to the gamer directly.
– We have written confirmation from the Ministry of Defense that this document remains classified. By continuing to distribute it, you are violating the Law on State Secrets. It is a crime that, if prosecuted, could face up to 14 years in prison. And you know about this, since you signed the corresponding non-disclosure document, – says the message from the creators of the game.
It remains unclear whether an internal audit will be conducted and whether the would-be gamer's identity will be established.
