Putin and Obama Star in Online Games

The games industry is currently worth £65 billion a year, a figure that is likely to swell, especially given the rise of online games. Online games provide even the most nonsensical ideas a platform to reach players and every conceivable idea is being employed to come up with new ways to interest the consumer.

One of the more notable of the new games online is ‘Like Putin’. Designed by Agency One, the game has 12 different levels, each of which challenges the character with a strategic problem. As the virtual Mr. Putin, the player is tasked with putting out fires, settling oil disputes and driving various tricky and monstrous vehicles across difficult terrain.

The creators of the game, who seem to have caught the imagination with the concept, say that it’s not meant to be about politics but simply another way to enjoy computer games. They said that Mr. Putin was an obvious choice for the game because of his personality.

He is not, however, the only world leader with a game made in his honour. Perhaps the most high profile political leader of them all, Barack Obama, has also had the arguably dubious pleasure of having his avatar used by many thousands of gamers. There are several games around which have harnessed the profile of the American president.

One such game is entitled ‘Obama: Presidential Escape’, a free game in which the player, as Mr. Obama, attempts to escape from terrorists who have hijacked and imprisoned him. The player moves around the multi-level world picking up useful articles, interacting with other characters and searching for the exit - a tactic that the incumbent president may attempt himself should the current American recession worsen.

The huge uptake in popularity of these two games, among others, offers yet more evidence of a booming online games industry that seems impervious to the economic downturn suffered by many other sectors.