Bohemia Interactive are renaming the main island of Arma 3 to Altis. According to their press release, Bohemia hope that the new name will reflect the Mediterranean identity of the island, but, "distinguishes it from the real-world Greek island of Lemnos, which has served as the main source of inspiration."
"In view of recent events, the team no longer feels passionate about using the previous name, 'Limnos', and hopes that the new identity, 'Altis', will help emphasize the fictional nature of the game." Those recent events, of course, being the 129 day detainment of Bohemia employees Ivan Buchta and Martin Pezlar, now released on bail.
"As part of the creative process, our virtual environments are often rooted in real-life locations and, during development, they evolve and grow along with our design," said Arma 3 project lead Joris-Jan van 't Land. "The resulting fictional environment is often close to its inspiration, but it's never exactly the same - nor would we want it to be. For us, 'Altis' echoes the Mediterranean heart of our island, but differentiates it from any undesired real-life connotations."
Atlis is a 350 kilometre square island, inspired by Greece's Lemnos. Bohemia stress that it was created based on publicly or commercially available data. Arma 3 will also feature a smaller second island, Stratis (approx. 20 km²), which will keep its name.
