Two members of the Bohemia Interactive company, makers of the ArmA series, have been arrested in Greece on charges of espionage. Check after the break for the whole story.
On September 11, two Czech men were arrested by the Greek government and charged with espionage. Both men are employees at Bohemia Interactive who are known for their hyper-realistic military shooter series, ArmA. The men were found to have pictures of a Greek air base in their possession, but claim that it was for research for the upcoming ArmA 3 game.
If convicted, the men could face up to 20 years in a Greek prison.
Eurogamer found that Bohemia Interactive was warned against taking photographs of the Greek bases by the user Cyplon, saying on the forums, On the island of Limnos is a military air base. It is illegal to take photographs of this base, yet the ArmA development team are creating a 3D model of the base, most likely based on photos which they took illegally (as well as the satellite photos which aren’t illegal),”
Cyplon goes on to say, “”Had this been an American base, or any other country with a large population of whom may purchase ARMa 3, it is likely that such an act would not have been performed due to the risk of the country banning the game from being sold there. […] Of all locations in the World, Limnos – one of the only islands in the Aegean with a military air base, is being replicated, regardless of the tensions between Greece and Turkey which are ongoing (you don’t hear it on the news unless you are from Greece or Turkey). Great choice for a first location! This is equivalent to creating an ArmA game replicating the Gaza strip, which would very likely anger Israel…”
It seems the Czech-based developer may not have been aware of the weight of their actions.
CEO Marek Spanel provided IGN with the following statement:
“We can confirm that two Bohemia Interactive employees, our colleagues and friends, were arrested during their holiday trip to Lemnos. They visited the island with the sole purpose of experiencing the island’s beautiful surroundings.
Since its establishment in 1999, Bohemia Interactive has created games based only upon publicly available information. We always respect the law and we’ve never instructed anybody to violate the laws of any country. The same is true for ArmA 3.
Currently, all our effort goes towards supporting the guys over there, as well as their friends and families affected by this difficult situation. We sincerely hope that this is an unfortunate misunderstanding of their passion as artists and creators of virtual worlds.”
