In Ukraine some game developers are volunteering to fight against Russia

As the war in Ukraine enters its third week,

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion forces are tightening their grip. Despite failures, in key cities. With the country’s capital Kyiv under siege, game developers in Ukraine are telling Polygon. That their employees are taking up arms to defend their country. Others say they are sheltering in place, unable or unwilling to leave their homes due to artillery and airstrikes. Timur Solid, marketing manager in Studio Pinglespent most of his time working to find a safe passage for his team, trapped in the city of Kharkiv, which was fired indiscriminately by Russian troops for several days. “The city is burning to the ground,” Malt told Polygon over the weekend. “We managed to evacuate almost everyone. […] There are few people left, and we [are]. Let’s organize an evacuation for them now.”

He said the main group of developers would head west to a relatively safe area around Lviv. Others, meanwhile, have made a choice to stay. “Some people from our team volunteered [join them] parts of the regular army and territorial defense,” Solid said. “Company [keeps paying a] salary for everyone, especially for those who joined [the] army.” Yaroslav Singaevsky, a lead game designer in a red bit, said that members of his team volunteered for the Territorial Defense, or TD.

“One of our developers […] is located in the Chernihiv shopping mall,”

Singaevsky told Polygon. “Essentially, these are paramilitaries that act as a reserve for the main army forces. But anti-tank units also often take part in the battle. And are very effective in this due to their high mobility and general knowledge of the terrain. […] We hope and pray that [they] will be in order, as well as the Chernihiv people.” Meanwhile, the developers are doing everything. Possible to keep their employees’ salaries. Wael Amr, CEO of Frogwares, said that although work inside the country has stopped. Some team members who live outside of Ukraine are helping to keep the light on.

“We have several versions of previous games that we planned to release a few weeks ago. So we are working on them as best we can,” Amr wrote. “But the main focus of our team as a whole is on providing assistance. Where we can, information, arranging transport or evacuation for those who need it. And checking on everyone two or three times a day.”

For a team of two people in Kyiv Affection Token, Alexei Molodkin, and Anastasia Kuznetsova

The situation is a little more precarious. Molodkin and Kuznetsova tell Polygon that they are hiding in their house with Molodkin’s mother and grandmother. They spend most of their time in the hallway, away from windows and outside walls that may be subject to explosions or gunfire. Molodkin says he’s doing his best to keep their game project going by using the city’s damaged cellular network. He says they sleep in shifts, so there’s always someone awake and listening to the air raid siren.

“Both are leaving the city and living in some kind of shelter.

For a long time is not an option in our case due to various health problems, especially with my grandmother’s legs,” Molodkin told Polygon. “However, our evacuation bags are packed, so we are ready to leave at any moment.” “It is still very difficult to concentrate on anything for more than half an hour,” he continued. “No one really prepares for war in the 21st century, so it’s very difficult to just get used to it in a few days and go about your usual business. Your mind just keeps coming back to the topic of the madness going on around you, and there’s no getting around it.”

Several developers have told Polygon they are deeply concerned that Russian forces have taken over nuclear power plants in the region, including Chernobyl And Zaporizhzhia NPP – the largest in Europe. Many also called on NATO and the United States to impose a no-fly zone in the region, a move that Western leaders say could lead to open conflict between nuclear adversaries.

However, like many developers we spoke to, Molodkin does not lose hope.

“Right now, we’re just focused on surviving and supporting whoever we can. It is very difficult to predict anything beyond that since the outcome of the war does not really depend on us,” said Molodkin. “Everyone here is very optimistic about the chances of our armed forces to win. We are proud of our people – they fight desperately and clearly never give up. This also applies to us.”