The ashes are not cold from WWII. Especially not in Russia. People have living memories of entire cities being razed by the nazis and their whole family being wiped out. People are still trying to find how their grandpa died or where he was buried.

That's basically what the whole cold war was about. Films like Top Gun, and the games based on them, portrayed Russians as non-humans, but from a Russian perspective, this is offensive in a very real fashion - because it's exactly what the Nazi propaganda did before the Nazis killed 10+ million Russians. It's very real and current for some Russians. Not the past, not cold ashes.

But it was the cold war, so it was considered OK to dehumanize the enemy.

Thats when it becomes a matter of perspective. from someone's perspective, just about every shooter game is offensive.

Personal tastes change over time. I used to be really into some of these games, killed tons of virtual people, but over time I just stopped caring. In general I just kind of avoid some of these games.

What about developers? Well it's kind of like Film. You have Transformers 3, where Michael Bay transformed the kind hearted, wise Optimus Prime of our youth into a cold, psychopathic murderer who rips someone's head off while they are pleading for mercy. This Bey man has made millions and millions of dollars doing this. I don't think my objections are going to stop him nor the legions of Tharks who enjoy this sort of thing.

But my spending my money elsewhere will make a space for me, and make a space for artists who are doing things I want to see, and there is something to be said for that.

The good news is that now is the Internet. We have more choices than we ever had before. You don't need to go to a store to find some alternative. You can find alternatives all over the place, pouring out of the woodwork - you can follow the creators on twitter, tell them how much you like them on Steam discussions, and maybe even become a developer yourself. It's a whole new world.