The Russians probably stole the assets of SSU fighters created by Ukrainians for the game about PMC "Wagner"

The Russian studio NoName Company likely stole models of Ukrainian SSU fighters created by a Ukrainian developer for the development of the tactical shooter Best in Hell about the Private Military Company "Wagner."

This was reported by DOU.

The author of the assets is Bogdan Zhukov, a 3D Character Artist at Frag Lab. The artist created models of soldiers, which he showcased on his ArtStation page. These assets were previously used by Ali Reza Fattahi, the Cinematic Animation Director, to create a realistic video depicting combat scenes.

Bogdan noticed in the trailer that NoName Company used his work.

"If you look closely, you can prove the absence of their work on each asset in the game. The only thing they managed to do was replace the shoulder insignia on the soldiers. That's it!" the author said.

Interestingly, the Russians chose the model of a Ukrainian SSU fighter in multicam, only removing the Ukrainian symbolism.

How exactly the assets ended up at NoName Company remains an open question. They could have purchased them on CG Trader, where the author displayed them. However, there is a high probability that the Russians simply stole the models because earlier the work was leaked on one of the pirate resources.

Russians likely stole assets of Ukrainian SSU fighters created by Ukrainians for the game about Wagner PMC

Bogdan tried to contact NoName Company demanding that they not use his assets. In response, he received this:

Russians likely stole assets of Ukrainian SBU fighters created by Ukrainians for the game about Wagner PMC

According to Bogdan, he will attempt to revoke the license if he receives the necessary information about the purchase. Without it, Best in Hell will never make it to Steam. However, the Russians plan to release it only through their VK Play, where they are unlikely to worry about copyright issues.

"If I found out which email they used to purchase the assets, if they even purchased them at all, I would ask Epic support to revoke the license, but it's pointless because even if the support agrees, the Russians won't care. The files will remain, and no one there has ever heard of copyright. As the developers write, they will be released on their VK Play, and there is no DMCA there," Bogdan added.

Meanwhile, Best in Hell keeps getting promoted by propagandists on Russian television.

In the project, Best in Hell promises to showcase battles for Popasna, with one of the characters being Evgeny Prigozhin.