“African Dawn” is a simulation developed by pro-Russian players allowing war on the African continent.
The game instills propaganda and false information in a clash between a pro-Western bloc presented as imperialist and a pan-Africanist pro-Russian bloc.
We were able to play it to understand the objectives and test the different scenarios.
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Information scrutinized by Auditors
From the first images of the game, the tone is set. Quotes from African personalities like Thomas Sankara, former president of Burkina Faso, against a backdrop of images of crowds holding Russian flags or members of the Wagner militia parading in the streets of Bangui in the Central African Republic. Welcome to “African Dawn”, meaning “African Dawn” in French, a “mod” (i.e. a modification of an existing game) of the Swedish video game “Heart of Iron IV” (new window). The original game is a war simulation about taking control of a great power in World War II. But with the African Dawn mod, the map moves to the African continent, and begins on September 30, 2022, the day of Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s coup in Burkina Faso (new window).
Available since July 2024 and popularized via Russian networks like Vkontakte by a community of players called Z Shaker Central, the mod was quickly banned from the Steam platform where it was offered to players. Despite several attempts to put the game back into circulation, the various updates had made the possibility of playing it very complex. The Verifiers team was, however, able to have access to it and delve into it for a few hours to understand its implications.
Influence players thanks to the penalty bonus
The player can select from the start a country with which he will attempt to dominate the region: Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali, Guinea, four countries where coups have taken place over the last two years, or Chad, where military cooperation with France was recently suspended. Other belligerents are available as powers present on the continent: France, the United States and Russia. The player is warned of the advantages and disadvantages of his starting choice: Burkina Faso aims for “pan-Africanism”, Russia for “pragmatism”, most of the time giving advantages to start the game.
On the contrary, France, whose main objective is the “Francocentrism”suffers a penalty because of “the indecision of its political leaders”illustrated by a grimacing photo of Emmanuel Macron. As for Russia, it is played by Evgueni Prigojine, ex-head of Wagner who died in a plane accident a year before the release of the game, and whose objective is “Russia and the Sahel against imperialism” giving advantages of attacks against France and the United States.
After a succession of windows describing the history of Africa emphasizing the fact that “Russia was one of the few countries not to participate in the colonization of Africa”the game suggests moving forward in time, and structuring your army, your industry or your government according to the codes of a classic strategy game. But the mod includes several nods to current events: articles from the African Initiative media, a Russian press agency on events on the African continent, appear regularly, referring to real news. To close these windows, the user is invited to click on evocative buttons: for example, in reaction to a European Union mission in Niger, the player must validate the information by pressing the phrase “they bring the colonialists back to the country”. In May 2024, a news article “riots” in New Caledonia and a “deployment of the French army” displays a button “still people unhappy with Macron?”.
Very focused “national priorities”
The heart of the game lies in the “national priorities”objectives to achieve to develop your country. Missions are thus offered in the form of a tree structure, with choices to be made as you move forward in time. For Burkina Faso, a dilemma is proposed in September 2023, after an abortive coup attempt: keep the coup authorities in power, or have them hand over power to organize elections. The first choice leads to missions allowing “to expel French diplomats” while developing stronger ties with Russia via university partnerships, and even a Putin Prize, which actually exists (new window).
Conversely, choosing the vote of elections leads inexorably to a “French mandate” allowing “benefits for metal extraction” with a photo of Emmanuel Macron. While the missions going in the direction of Russia present significant bonuses to advance in the game, the “French” route leads to the vast majority of penalties which make the game more difficult.
Missions are filled with false information and conspiratorial content. As part of the mission “French espionage”a box states that a “invisible hand still tries to direct the destiny of Burkina Faso” mentioning “sensitive data leaks” or “unexplained breakdowns” attributed to France. On several occasions, visuals showing hands around Burkina Faso or Africa symbolize Western control. Conversely, the missions around Russia are illustrated by handshakes and martial formulations with the ultimate goal of “bright future”.
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Final objective: the “Great War” of the Sahel
If the Verifiers team mainly studied the game around the case of Burkina Faso, playing with France or Russia gives other indications on this well-established propaganda. Thus, the part concerning “national priorities” of France, much simpler, has as its final objective total control of the African sub-region. The final mission “Unlimited power” aims to win the “Great War” of the Sahel to seize a “base in Mali” thus becoming a “national territory of the French Republic”. On the Russian side, the missions revolve around the person of Yevgeny Prigozhin and have the final objective “the liberation of the African people” and the “death of Western imperialism”. With the ultimate mission of “I came, I saw, I won” Russian, glorifying Wagner’s ex-leader as an emperor with a laurel wreath.
We were able to continue the game with Burkina Faso until the fictitious date of February 2026. After having defeated the forces of the Islamic State in the Sahel during 2025, the game moves towards a strengthening of relations with countries favorable to the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), with an exit from the franc zone and the creation of a new currency. Several countries in the region are canceling anti-aggression pacts with Burkina Faso, and war seems inexorable. The game also encourages attacks on neighboring Ivory Coast, because “Criminals are hiding in foreign lands” according to a mod mission.
The creators of the game have made no secret of this: according to them, only a global conflict between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the AES can make it possible to achieve the final objective of the player controlling Burkina Faso: “the unification of all African states into a single entity”.
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