Crusader Kings 3 developers renamed Kiev due to the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine

The developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 are not the only ones who changed the spelling of words in their game due to recent events in Ukraine.

Paradox recently released update 1.51 with a number of improvements, and one of the changes was the spelling of Kyiv. Now, in the English version, the capital is spelled “Kyiv” instead of “Kiev” as before.

Just like with the subtitle of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, this is linked to the conflict in Ukraine. “Kiev” is a transliteration from Russian, while “Kyiv” is from Ukrainian. Until recently, the first option was considered traditional for historical reasons and was widespread even in Soviet times.

The change did not cause the same storm on the internet as in the case of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, but there are users who are unhappy with the changes. Such players can download a mod that restores the city’s name. It is available at the link.

In the comments to the mod, some users point out the historical context, namely that the Ukrainian language did not exist in medieval times (when the game takes place). They claim that the spelling “Kiev” is correct, and the change in the game was driven by politics.