Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently made a mistake with the popular military simulation title Thunder of war. While social media is usually used for quick communication, the high-ranking official accidentally shared a clip from the video game that was far from what it was purported to be. It was reported that the politician reposted a video under the impression that it was actual battle footage, although the scene was reproduced in Thunder of war.
The military gaming world has reached a point where digital recreations are almost indistinguishable from reality to the untrained eye. Developers like Gaijin Entertainment create massively multiplayer experiences that focus on armored vehicles, aircraft, and naval vessels from the early 1900s to the present day. Simulations that Thunder of war rely on historical documents and physical data to build over 2,500 different vehicles with realistic graphics and sound effects. Since these games are free to play and available on everything from Windows and Mac to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, high-profile gameplay videos are constantly being shared across the internet.
When virtual battles enter the political arena
The line between play and reality was blurred considerably for Abbott this past Sunday, March 1st. The governor posted a video on Twitter, apparently believing he was watching live footage of a US warship shooting down an Iranian fighter jet. Abbott even added a cheeky “Bye bye” caption to the post before it was quickly scrubbed from his profile. The clip he shared was originally uploaded by a pro-Donald Trump account that claimed to show an intense showdown between an Iranian plane and a US ship.
However, the internet was quick to point out the mistake. The footage was not a real battle but was actually footage from the World War II themed simulator. Readers added context to the post, clarifying that the U.S. Navy currently has no battleships in active service — a major red flag since the video prominently featured that type of ship. It turns out the same clip had been exposed by Reuters back in 2024 when it was mistakenly used to depict an attack in the Arabian Sea.
The fact that Thunder of war can dupe a head of state speaks to its impressive graphics. The game allows 32 to 64 players to battle on over 140 different maps representing historical battle zones. Players engage in combined battles where tanks, helicopters and ships all fight in the same match, using damage models strictly based on physics. To a casual observer, the chaos of multiple rocket launchers and anti-aircraft guns creating a firestorm could be mistaken for modern news, especially when viewed on a small smartphone screen.
The incident highlights a growing problem with digital disinformation during global crises. This failure occurred while tensions are high following military strikes by Israel and the United States in Iran. During these times, social media platforms are often flooded with conflicting and fake images. Twitter has been overwhelmed by disinformation, with AI-generated images and game clips often presented as legitimate news to unsuspecting audiences.
After the post was deleted, Governor Abbott's office offered no official comment on the mix-up. Instead, he issued a formal statement supporting the recent military actions and calling on the Texas National Guard to increase security at ports and energy facilities.
This is far from the first time a video game has been mistaken for the real thing. The trend has affected large organizations and governments for several years. Russian state media once used footage from the battle simulator arm to portray the heroism of a fallen soldier in Syria. In another instance, the BBC once mistakenly used the United Nations Space Command logo from Halo series under a report on the real United Nations Security Council.
More recently, the war in Ukraine has become a breeding ground for this type of disinformation. Videos claiming to show Operation Spiderweb – a massive drone and missile raid – were actually simulations done in Arma 3. These clips received hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and YouTube, often with misleading titles like “Daring Ukrainian FPV drone swarm raid.” The situation became so serious that a Romanian news channel, Antena 3, broadcast an old one Arma 3 clips as real news, and even asks defense experts to comment on the “real” footage.
Bohemia Interactive, the studio behind arm series, has since spoken out against its products being used as “war propaganda”. They explained that players often use “mods” to customize the game's visuals, making them look even more like grainy battle footage. Likewise, Gaijin Entertainment's Thunder of war have highly detailed vehicles based on historical documents, making their firestorms and naval battles look convincing to anyone scrolling through a social media feed.
As misinformation continues to flood social platforms, experts warn that verifying footage is becoming a complex task. While Governor Abbott's office did not comment Thunder of war Confoundingly, the incident serves as a high-profile reminder that even the most “authentic” clips can be a total fabrication. Regardless of whether it is one Halo logo on the news or a video game battleship on a governor's timeline, the world of virtual battles is officially leaking into real politics.
- Released
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November 1, 2012
- ESRB
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t
- Developer
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Gaijin entertainment
- Publisher
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Gaijin entertainment
