Summary
One Ukrainian soldier defending his homeland recently went on record to credit video games for some of the combat skills that he’s now employing on an everyday basis. His peculiar perspective on the realities of war arrived shortly after the raging conflict in Ukraine entered its 18th month of fighting.
US officials estimate that the ongoing war has already resulted in at least 70,000 military personnel deaths on both sides combined, in addition to causing over 40,000 civilian casualties as of May 2023. That’s on top of thecountless Ukrainian war refugeescreated by the conflict since Russia invaded the Eastern European country in February 2022.
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In spite of that grim reality, the morale on the front lines appears reasonably high, as suggested by Ukrainian drone operator Mykhailo, also known by his call sign Joker. In a recent interview with Reuters, the 25-year-old soldier longingly recalled how his mother used to tell him that playing video games wouldn’t do him any good. But now that he’s piloting first-person view (FPV) drones on a daily basis, he’s not so sure that prediction was correct, opining that his gaming experience facilitated the process of mastering remote-controlled aircraft operation. “If this isn’t useful, then what is,” he asked rhetorically, while gesturing toward a small quadcopter in his hand.
Apart from flying drones using a virtual reality headset and a joystick-equipped controller, Mykhailo is also regularly experimenting with self-made FPV drone designs. He is presently active in the Zaporizhzhia region in southeastern Ukraine, where the defending forces are currently mounting a counterpush against the Russian invaders. And though Mykhailo—who didn’t provide a last name—has seemingly found a real-life use for his gaming skills, he presumably wouldn’t have minded if his mother were right about video games, not least because of the sheer number of hiscompatriots who were killed fighting in Ukraineover the last 18 months.
FPV drone operation isn’t the only aspect of the ongoing conflict that was seemingly influenced by the gaming industry in one way or another. Back in spring,Ukraine’s military also found an inventive use for the Steam Deck, having repurposed Valve’s gaming handheld into a remote controller for heavy-caliber turrets with the goal of minimizing operator exposure.
The gaming industry itself has also been fairly active in supporting efforts to send humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the start of the war. The latest example of one such initiative came in the form of aWorld of Warcraftpet bundle for Ukraine reliefthat Blizzard announced in collaboration with actress Mila Kunis back in July.
