Demand BSG Cease Use of Offensive & Illegal Cosmetics
Demand BSG Cease Use of Offensive & Illegal Cosmetics
The Issue
There is videos online of Nikita Buyanov, the CEO of BattleState Games (BSG) visiting with the infamous Team 715, a group of dangerous extremist Russian nationals, with zero former military training or experience, that volunteered to invade Ukraine... BSG has even kindly included an armband, the 'Train Hard' armband, which players are able to discover by completing the quest "Swift One" given by the trader Jaeger. The quest requires you to kill 20 PMCs on the Woods map while wearing no armor or helmet.
While less explicit, it is also worth mentioning that there is evidence to suggest that BSG works closely with Russian war instruments like Kalishnikov, who develop the AK model assault rifles & more. While one might argue it is just for technical accuracy, BSG's silence during the invasion of Ukraine made these interactions feel even louder. Given that the Russia 2028 franchise is loosely based on the contents of A Roadside Picnic, which was written by anti-Stalin authors who faced censorship. Therefore, considering their source materials for the Russia 2028 universe, it is incredibly ironic that BSG is using this franchise in order to cooperate with several instruments in the modern Putin war machine.
Offensive content is tricky & it is difficult to say whether it is included for ideation or for authenticity, it could all be debated. However, while it may seem like Escape from Tarkov (EFT) does not infringe on any copyrighted content aiming to skirt the line of being regulated with parody brands like - "Tarducks" for Starbucks, "Underway" for Subway, & "IDEA" for IKEA for example - this is actually learned behavior. Hired Ops is inside the shared universe of Russia 2028 & it has a lot of the same level design philosophy that is now used in EFT: Arena. However, it was released on Steam with a wide variety of Counter-Strike inspired micro-transactions like paid premium status, loot boxes, & seasonal battle passes. The game also used a wide variety of micro-transactions inspired by their previous game, Contract Wars.
Hired Ops has always been a cash-grab game, filled with microtransactions & exploitative business practises. An estimated 100,000+ registered users on Steam & even more on the native BSG launcher, suggests significant, ongoing monetization of unlicensed characters. Moreover, BSG has been noticeably shifting focus towards EFT: Arena, leaving Hired Ops behind, which underscores the unsustainable nature of their business practices & the economy they built within Hired Ops. Now that EFT has officially released on Steam, there is basically no inherent value in playing Hired Ops over EFT: Arena, making people's inventory in Hired Ops worthless in the Steam Community Market. If this was a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) enabled game, instead of limiting itself to the Steam market, people would likely express more outrage about these predatory practices.
Illicit contacted RIPNDIP for comment, who control the licensing for Lord Nermal, & they confirmed that BSG's use of the character on the clan patches was indeed un-authorized. This potentially means that numerous other logos, such as the Punisher from Marvel Games used on clan patches, is almost certainly being used in an un-authorized capacity as well. Presumably all content that you see within the Russia 2028 universe with brand recognition which is not made internally by BSG or military related content (like Team 715 or Kalishnikov) is not actually used legally.
Given these reasons, we are appealing to the gaming community to support us in demanding BSG to halt the unauthorized exploitation of unlicensed characters like Lord Nermal & The Punisher in Hired Ops. We also hope for the removal of Team 715 contents from EFT. Such actions not only infringe on the intellectual property rights attributed to Lord Nermal or the Punisher, but also sets a disappointing standard in the gaming industry by allowing offensive content like Team 715 to exist in the Russia 2028 universe. By signing this petition, you will be standing up for fair play without pay2win micro-transactions, giving the voice back to the oppressed authors of A Roadside Picnic, & showing respect for creators' rights. Sign today to demand justice against BSG for their continued mockery of Ukraine, Marvel, & RIPNDIP!
Now that Escape from Tarkov is available on Steam, it also begs the question of what will happen to the Steam Community Market items which BattleState Games has seemingly abandoned. Valve has previously made a great effort to maintain Team Fortress 2 item servers & when Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was retired the item servers were then migrated into Counter-Strike 2. Therefore, if BSG decided to retire Hired Ops, it would be beneficial moving forward into the Steam eco-system to address the items that have been minted within Hired Ops.
Hired Ops is based in Russia 2028 universe, the same as EFT or Contract Wars, & the gameplay is basically a less refined version of EFT: Arena. Therefore, Illicit proposes it would be perfectly reasonable to see BSG incorporate Hired Ops inventories into EFT: Arena, similarly to how Counter-Strike: Global Offensive & Counter-Strike 2. If this migration was succesful, then Hired Ops could be retired, & loyal consumers who have enjoyed Hired Ops over the years wouldn't be harmed.
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The Issue
There is videos online of Nikita Buyanov, the CEO of BattleState Games (BSG) visiting with the infamous Team 715, a group of dangerous extremist Russian nationals, with zero former military training or experience, that volunteered to invade Ukraine... BSG has even kindly included an armband, the 'Train Hard' armband, which players are able to discover by completing the quest "Swift One" given by the trader Jaeger. The quest requires you to kill 20 PMCs on the Woods map while wearing no armor or helmet.
While less explicit, it is also worth mentioning that there is evidence to suggest that BSG works closely with Russian war instruments like Kalishnikov, who develop the AK model assault rifles & more. While one might argue it is just for technical accuracy, BSG's silence during the invasion of Ukraine made these interactions feel even louder. Given that the Russia 2028 franchise is loosely based on the contents of A Roadside Picnic, which was written by anti-Stalin authors who faced censorship. Therefore, considering their source materials for the Russia 2028 universe, it is incredibly ironic that BSG is using this franchise in order to cooperate with several instruments in the modern Putin war machine.
Offensive content is tricky & it is difficult to say whether it is included for ideation or for authenticity, it could all be debated. However, while it may seem like Escape from Tarkov (EFT) does not infringe on any copyrighted content aiming to skirt the line of being regulated with parody brands like - "Tarducks" for Starbucks, "Underway" for Subway, & "IDEA" for IKEA for example - this is actually learned behavior. Hired Ops is inside the shared universe of Russia 2028 & it has a lot of the same level design philosophy that is now used in EFT: Arena. However, it was released on Steam with a wide variety of Counter-Strike inspired micro-transactions like paid premium status, loot boxes, & seasonal battle passes. The game also used a wide variety of micro-transactions inspired by their previous game, Contract Wars.
Hired Ops has always been a cash-grab game, filled with microtransactions & exploitative business practises. An estimated 100,000+ registered users on Steam & even more on the native BSG launcher, suggests significant, ongoing monetization of unlicensed characters. Moreover, BSG has been noticeably shifting focus towards EFT: Arena, leaving Hired Ops behind, which underscores the unsustainable nature of their business practices & the economy they built within Hired Ops. Now that EFT has officially released on Steam, there is basically no inherent value in playing Hired Ops over EFT: Arena, making people's inventory in Hired Ops worthless in the Steam Community Market. If this was a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) enabled game, instead of limiting itself to the Steam market, people would likely express more outrage about these predatory practices.
Illicit contacted RIPNDIP for comment, who control the licensing for Lord Nermal, & they confirmed that BSG's use of the character on the clan patches was indeed un-authorized. This potentially means that numerous other logos, such as the Punisher from Marvel Games used on clan patches, is almost certainly being used in an un-authorized capacity as well. Presumably all content that you see within the Russia 2028 universe with brand recognition which is not made internally by BSG or military related content (like Team 715 or Kalishnikov) is not actually used legally.
Given these reasons, we are appealing to the gaming community to support us in demanding BSG to halt the unauthorized exploitation of unlicensed characters like Lord Nermal & The Punisher in Hired Ops. We also hope for the removal of Team 715 contents from EFT. Such actions not only infringe on the intellectual property rights attributed to Lord Nermal or the Punisher, but also sets a disappointing standard in the gaming industry by allowing offensive content like Team 715 to exist in the Russia 2028 universe. By signing this petition, you will be standing up for fair play without pay2win micro-transactions, giving the voice back to the oppressed authors of A Roadside Picnic, & showing respect for creators' rights. Sign today to demand justice against BSG for their continued mockery of Ukraine, Marvel, & RIPNDIP!
Now that Escape from Tarkov is available on Steam, it also begs the question of what will happen to the Steam Community Market items which BattleState Games has seemingly abandoned. Valve has previously made a great effort to maintain Team Fortress 2 item servers & when Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was retired the item servers were then migrated into Counter-Strike 2. Therefore, if BSG decided to retire Hired Ops, it would be beneficial moving forward into the Steam eco-system to address the items that have been minted within Hired Ops.
Hired Ops is based in Russia 2028 universe, the same as EFT or Contract Wars, & the gameplay is basically a less refined version of EFT: Arena. Therefore, Illicit proposes it would be perfectly reasonable to see BSG incorporate Hired Ops inventories into EFT: Arena, similarly to how Counter-Strike: Global Offensive & Counter-Strike 2. If this migration was succesful, then Hired Ops could be retired, & loyal consumers who have enjoyed Hired Ops over the years wouldn't be harmed.
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The Decision Makers
Petition created on April 5, 2025