Valve Allegedly Blocks CSGO Map Depicting Ukraine War, Hindering Access to Russian Players

Valve, the game developer behind Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO), has purportedly blocked a CSGO map called ‘de_voyna,’ which aimed to provide uncensored news and information about the invasion of Ukraine to Russian players. Created by the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the map features a concealed room filled with uncensored content, including images, news reports, and videos illustrating the Russian military’s actions in Ukraine. However, Helsingin Sanomat claims that Valve has implemented restrictions preventing Russian players from accessing de_voyna.

Designed to mimic a war-ravaged Eastern European city, de_voyna cleverly utilizes CSGO’s free-roaming spectator camera, enabling eliminated players to navigate through walls and discover a secret room containing comprehensive information about Russian activities in Ukraine. The map was intended to circumvent news censorship in Russia and offer unfiltered insights to Russian CSGO players. Nevertheless, Helsingin Sanomat now accuses Valve of deliberately blocking the map for users with Russian IP addresses.

Helsingin Sanomat argues that censoring a single custom map from Russia, or any other country, would be an extremely challenging task, as precise targeting of censorship is virtually impossible. If Russian authorities aimed to restrict the map’s dissemination, they would likely need to block player access to the entire Steam service, which serves as the platform for Valve’s games. Consequently, it seems evident that the blocking measures were executed by Valve, the game service provider based in the United States.

PCGamesN has reached out to both Valve and Helsingin Sanomat for comments and will update this story accordingly.

In the meantime, stay updated on the release date of Counter-Strike 2 and check out the anticipated system requirements, which are expected to be announced by Valve.