Nival, an independent game developer renowned for their strategy games, have today revealed that forgotten hero of World War II, Wojtek “the Soldier Bear”, will finally gain some long overdue recognition for his daring wartime exploits by featuring in Blitzkrieg 3, the long awaited next installment to one of their most famous franchises, set to release on PC this year.

Appearing as an actual in-game character, the Syrian brown bear named Wojtek will be a soldier of the 22^nd Transport Company of the 2^nd Corps. In 1942, the real-life Wojtek was found in Iran as a bear cub by soldiers of the 22nd Artillery Supply Company, adopted and was present in a number of theaters of war such as Monte Cassino where he helped move ammunition. He went on to attain the rank of Corporal. Now, this fearless bear will be immortalized in Blitzkrieg 3!

“It is not an easy task to faithfully represent a real war hero in a video game, especially one that is a bear. In order to reflect Wojtek’s character truthfully, and to accurately recreate his mannerisms, our artists spent some time at Leningrad Zoo, closely observing and communicating with the local bears,” said Maxim Predtechensky, Vice President of Nival.

As well as being representative of his real-life historical counterpart, in Blitzkrieg 3 Wojtek will actively assist artillery soldiers. A gun-loading bear will significantly improve the firing rate of friendly artillery and gives additional protection against hostile infantry attacks using his big paws. With his menacing stare, Wojtek can paralyze enemy infantry assault squads, forcing them to stop shooting and start crawling out of fear, making it easy to be destroyed by the player’s own forces.

The Artillery Bear will be available in the release version of Blitzkrieg 3. Wojtek’s appearance in the Closed Alpha and Beta will be announced at a later date.