Why Russia Is Taking Action Against Czech Computer Games

A computer game from the Czech Republic dealing with Czechoslovak soldiers in the Russian Civil War. Now there is a risk of being banned by the authorities in Russia. Developers are silent.

In the “Last Train Home” game, players control a train full of Czechoslovak Legionnaires on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Steam engine, gun carriages, field hospital and kitchen.

Almost 10,000 kilometers from Kiev in the west – to the Pacific coast to Vladivostok. It is through Russia, which has been mired in civil war since the October Revolution.

“In this game we tell the story of a fictional train. In fact, the Legionnaires managed to bring the entire Trans-Siberian Railway under their control,” says Peter Kolar from game developer Ashbourne Games in Brno.

Strategy and Moral Decisions

In addition to battles with the Bolshevik Red Army and its enemy, the White Army, the main objective was to regulate the survival of the train and its crew. Supplies, fuel or medical supplies for the Siberian winter. So there’s a lot of strategy, and it’s about moral decisions.

“Last Train Home” is a stirring history lesson in the form of a computer game that demonstrates how suitable the medium is for anti-war messages, Austrian newspaper Standard said in a review. Criticism: Veterans are often portrayed as heroic.

Office of the Public Prosecutor St. Petersburg charges

In contrast, according to Russian media, the St. Petersburg State Prosecutor’s Office accuses game developers of using the game to incite hatred against the Russian government and the Red Army.

That’s what they don’t want. “We think nothing in war is black and white. War is gray. War itself is bad. There is good and evil on both sides,” Collas insists.

“At its core, sport corresponds to reality”

To stay close to the truth, the game developers worked with historians. One of them was Michael Rock of the Czechoslovak Legionnaires’ Society. There are definitely simplifications at play, he says. For example, a shorter period of six months instead of four years.

“But at its core, the game is aligned with reality. The Bolsheviks set themselves the goal of destroying the legions. First they wanted to conquer them, then they wanted to destroy them,” Rock says.

The historical background is quickly told: with the First World War and the collapse of Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovak nationalists saw an opportunity to found their own state. They first fight on the side of Russia against Germany and Austria-Hungary. In the Russian Civil War, for their own cause. The way back to the west was blocked for the legions. So 60,000 men made their way home through Siberia—against and through Red Army resistance.

“It’s clear that today’s Russian government doesn’t want to remember this because it contradicts the narrative of a tough, strong, invincible Red Army that was ultimately punched in the face by a small force,” Rock says.

Quiet about the potential ban

In addition, Czechs and Slovaks were warmly welcomed by people along the railway line. For example, the historian mentions reports of factory occupations. There, the legionaries modernized production, introduced eight-hour shifts and paid people well.

“I think the game also shows things like how the Russians were freed from the Bolsheviks. These scenes can be a bit exaggerated and make the Bolsheviks seem worse than in real life,” says Rock, who likes to remind Russia that a foreign power was doing well.

Kolar is taking the impending ban from the Ashbourne Games seriously. Also, it is interesting that the Russian Prosecutor’s Office can manipulate history. “If you have time for things like this, you have time to deal with human rights abuses in Russia,” he says.