First-ever political rally in Minecraft draws 12,000
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) has held a political rally on a Minecraft server to mark Russia’s Labor Day. The gathering was held on May 1 on an LDPR-themed server, featuring a giant bust of the party’s founder, the late Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
“The LDPR’s digital rally has become the most massive demonstration held today in the country. More than 12,000 supporters from all over the world applied to participate in the event!” the party said in a statement.
However, it admitted the rally ended prematurely due to the server’s crash, which was blamed on the extraordinarily large inflow of users.
It was not immediately clear how many users actually attended the event simultaneously.
Footage from the rally circulating online shows the Minecraft players parading by the towering bust of the LDPR founder, said to be 200-meters high, as well as launching fireworks. Zhirinovsky, a veteran of the Russian political scene and known for his incendiary rhetoric and eccentric behavior, passed away in April 2022, succumbing to Covid-19-linked complications.
Despite the technical issues, the rally was hailed as a major success by the party, which pledged to hold more online events in the future and to spread its political activities to other gaming platforms as well.
