Review
The Pakistani government shared footage from the video game Arma 3 in response to India’s accusation of harboring terrorist infrastructure. This development marks yet another case of Arma 3 being mistaken for—or presented as—real-life combat footage.
On the night of May 6/7, India launched a series of missile strikes targeting alleged terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Code-named Operation Sindoor, the strikes were characterized as retaliation for an April 22 terrorist attack in which militants killed 28 civilians near Pahalgam in Pakistan’s portion of Kashmir. India claimed Operation Sindoor eliminated more than 100 militants. On May 8, Pakistan initiated a retaliatory military operation, code-named Bunyān Mārsūs (Arabic for «solid/compacted structure»), which conducted missile and drone attacks on select Indian military sites, including ammunition storage facilities and airbases.
Operation Bunyān Mārsūs was announced via several channels, including the Pakistani government’s official Twitter account, which even shared a short video illustration of the military action. However, it didn’t take long for social media users to notice that the opening segment of the 33-second video doesn’t show real-life combat but footage from Arma 3, UK Defence Journal reports. The gameplay footage shared by Islamabad’s Twitter account features a Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) firing at one of Arma 3‘s fighter jets.
Arma 3 Commonly Gets Mistaken For Real-Life War Footage
Developed by Czech studio Bohemia Interactive, Arma 3 was originally released in September 2013. Now nearly 12 years old, the military sim continues to feature photorealistic graphics, thanks to robust modding support and an active community. As a result, it is frequently mistaken for real life, as underlined by multiple instances of Arma 3 being confused with footage from the Russo-Ukrainian War back in 2022.
The military sim has been mistaken for real-life footage so frequently that the Arma 3 developer even issued a warning about the spread of such fake news. In this particular instance, the government of Pakistan did not explicitly claim that the gameplay footage it shared on Twitter depicted real-life military action, though some social media users interpreted the video as implying just that.
A day after Arma 3 was identified as the source of the footage, U.S. President Trump announced that India and Pakistan have agreed to halt all hostilities, effective 5pm local time. The talks resulting in the de-escalation involved U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Reflecting on the cessation of hostilities, India said it will treat all future terrorist attacks on its soil as acts of war. Throughout this ordeal, the Pakistani government repeatedly insisted India offered no proof of the April 2025 Pahalgam attack being organized by militants operating from Pakistan. The May 2025 conflict marked the biggest escalation of tensions between these two nuclear powers since the 1999 Kargil War.
