The upcoming Russian reality show Game2: Winter will strand 30 men and women in the remote Siberian wilderness to compete for a cash prize. Photo / Supplied
The upcoming Russian reality show Game2: Winter will strand 30 men and women in the remote Siberian wilderness to compete for a cash prize. Photo / Supplied
There's a tendency to claim lots of things are a sign of the end times. Then there are things so unfathomably horrendous that you can't help but feel we're tumbling off a cliff edge into mass carnage.
The upcoming Russian reality show Game2: Winter will strand 30 men and women in the remote Siberian wilderness to compete for a cash prize. Per their contracts, contestants must also sign off on potentially being raped, killed or murdered, all of which the show is proudly "permitting".
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not spoken out about the controversial new show in his country yet. Photo / AP
"Everything is allowed," reads the show's press materials. "Fighting, alcohol, murder, rape, smoking, anything."
When not striking a connection between rape and smoking a cigarette, Game2: Winter aims to create an atmosphere of survivalist anarchy, with contestants dumped in -40° Celsius temperatures and tasked with building a community in amongst bears and wolves.
Bizarrely, contestants must pay their way into the series, forking over 10 million roubles (or NZ$231,5000) to take part unless they are selected by viewers via online voting.
To make things even more reprehensible, the show will be streamed internationally for 24 hours a day.
The show's billionaire creator, entrepreneur Yevgeny Pyatkovsky, has revealed that they've already received 60 applicants, or "rich and risky people craving a new and ultimate challenge" as he describes them. He also insists that contestants must be over 18 and "mentally sane".
The show is being described as being like the Hunger Games, a dystopian franchise where children fight to the death.
Speaking to the Siberian Times, Pyatkovsky said that contestants will face the wrath of Russian law if they do commit acts of rape or murder, but that the show itself will be contractually off the hook if any violence occurs.
"We will refuse any claim of participants even if they were to be killed or raped," he says. "We will have nothing to do with this. This will be spelt out in a document to be signed by the participant before the start of the show."
He also talked up the show's entertainment potential.
"There have been no reality TV projects before that stay on air 24/7. There will be no filming crew. The whole area will be dotted with cameras and each participant will be carrying a portable camera with 7-hour life rechargeable battery."
There has so far been no comment from Katniss Everdeen, but sources say even she has given up hope.
