A video of Arma 3, a military simulation game, was distributed as if it were filmed in real life, and the developer, Bohemia Interactive, demanded that the spread of fake news be stopped. This game, released in 2013, is highly likely to spread as fake news because all disputes can be reproduced in detail using mods.
On November 28, Bohemia Interactive, headquartered in the Czech Republic, issued a statement and announced that it would respond to the distribution of videos cited in Arma 3 as if they were real-life conflicts, such as the Russian-Ukrainian war.
The video cited in Arma 3 is widely spread on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, and is said to be causing the illusion that it is real. In the case of a video titled that a Ukrainian drone attacked a Russian warship, it is actually an Arma 3 video. Of course, the person who uploaded this video stated that it was a game video in the outline, but it was posted on Facebook as if it were real that part of this video was cut.
Also, on July 20, another Arma 3 video was re-uploaded on Twitter in a form once morest the uploader’s intention. The stage of Arma 3 is a near-future world in 2035, but since the Arma series can be freely customized with user-created MOD files, a variety of weapons, equipment, and scenarios created by the user have been created. Because of this, it is said that it is possible to reproduce and simulate in detail all conflicts in reality regardless of the past, present, and future.
Bohemia Interactive is happy that it can realistically simulate a modern war conflict, but it is not happy that it is misunderstood as a real battle video and used for war publicity. In the past, there have been cases where a Russian broadcaster broadcast a video from the Arma series to the Syrian civil war or a British broadcaster made a mistake due to an IRA terrorist attack. Bohemia Interactive tries to counter this by flagging each platform on which a video is posted, but for every one video taken down, 10 others are raised, which has little effect.
For this reason, he expressed his intention to respond toward the future, saying that the best way is to actively cooperate with large media or fact-checker groups with greater influence and capabilities. In addition, as a developer’s advice, how to distinguish between in-game video and real video was also revealed. First, low resolution. Even old smartphones can share videos in HD quality, but fake videos intentionally reduce and blur the quality to hide that they are game videos.
Second is hand tremors. For a dramatic production, many of the fake videos were taken from monitors, etc., rather than capturing the game as it is. Third, it is said that there are many dark scenes in dark places or nighttime videos to deceive details. Fourth, there are many cases where there is no voice. It is said that in-game sound effects are easy to distinguish from reality, so fake videos are often silent.
The next thing is that there are no moving humans. Arma can reproduce the movements of military vehicles relatively realistically, but it is difficult to reproduce natural human movements. For this reason, it is said that there are no moving humans in the fake video. Then, the HUD elements are visible. In the fake video, the game’s unique weapon selection screen, remaining ammunition, vehicle status, and in-game messages can be seen. These are usually displayed at the edges and corners of the image. Another unnatural particle effect. Even in the latest games, natural depiction of explosions, smoke, flames, and dust is still a big challenge. Arma is no exception and can be identified by this description. Bohemia Interactive says that a person with advanced knowledge of military equipment can realize that equipment that is not suitable for conflict is being used. For example, in a fake video widely circulated, it is said that the counter-RAM of the US air defense system shoots down the US ground attack aircraft A-10.
The company said, “We ask Arma 3 players and content creators to take responsibility for the game video and to specify that it is a video game-derived video and does not depict real events.” Related information this placecan be found in
