In context: International sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine have prevented Russian customers from buying games on global digital platforms. A Russian developer has given fans in the country consent to pirate their game if they have no other choice.
This week, Russia-based developer Four Quarters asked Russian fans how to purchase their Loop Hero game. permit pirate it if they couldn't find a way to buy it due to sanctions. The answer came through the Russian social media platform VK.
Currently, there is a loophole through the Russian payment provider Qiwi that could work on Steam, but the Russians have no way to buy the Nintendo Switch version. As a result, the independent studio said that fans should download a Loop Hero torrent and provided a link to the game on the popular Russian RuTracker torrent service.
From Visa, Mastercard and PayPal arrested operations in Russia earlier this month, it has become difficult, if not impossible, for Russians to purchase digital goods on foreign platforms, including games. Steam can't either. Send payments to Russia, Belarus or Ukraine. However, Steam users based elsewhere can still buy games from developers in those countries, including Loop Hero, but the studio can't collect payments.
Four Quarters isn't the first developer to endorse piracy of their game, if only conditionally. In 2017, the independent Polish developer Acid Wizard Studio aware a torrent of its title, Darkwood, at The Pirate Bay. Admitting that some degree of piracy was inevitable, Arc Wizard wanted to ensure that players got a malware-free copy of the game.
Although Four Quarters said it is against the war the day Russia invaded Ukraine, and at least one member of the study has moved to georgia Its willingness to allow piracy in this case may be in response to Russia considering legalizing piracy to circumvent sanctions.
