Game News Russia: developers encourage piracy of their game and do not want money in return
For the past month, Russia has been subject to sanctions in various areas. Sanctions that also affect video games and for which some developers have decided to act. This is the case of Four Quarters, the team behind Loop Hero.
Summary
- “Support your friends and family during this difficult time”
- Piracy encouraged by the Russian government
“Support your friends and family during this difficult time”
Released on March 4, 2021 by being published by Devolver Digital, Loop Hero was a very pleasant surprise. Released on PC and then on Nintendo Switch, the game suffered the consequences of recent restrictions: following the military operations launched by Russia on Ukrainian soil, some digital stores no longer accept payment with Russian currency such as Steam or Nintendo eShop. But that’s no problem for Four Quarters, the studio behind the game.. In a reported post on Russian social network VK, Russian developers Four Quarters encouraged players to hack their title.
They explain that they launched this initiative after receiving many questions about Loop Hero, which was impossible to buy. Four Quarters then raises the flag of piracy and encourages players to download the game for free by even providing a dedicated link. A decision that seems disinterested on their part since after some players wanted to make donations that they refused:
We are very grateful for your support, but the truth is that everything is fine with us. Support your friends and family during this difficult time.
As a reminder, Loop Hero is a small independent nugget released last year. In an all-pixel art direction, the player is stuck in a time loop and must battle the Lich to get out. For this purpose, it is he who builds his own map with squares of different types (forests, church, mountains or campfire) in order to gather resources for the final fight.
Piracy encouraged by the Russian government
If we can welcome the initiative of Four Quarters, it evokes the recent decision of Russia vis-à-vis the sanctions of the West. In the first half of March, the local media relayed the Russian government statements who said that “companies in the country no longer had any obligation to pay the patent holders of the countries that sanctioned Russia, in the context of the use of intellectual property“. A decision which was intended to punish the sanctioners, but also to encourage Russian producers to manufacture similar products.
On this subject, it is not only Nintendo and Steam who have decided to sanction Russia. Sony, Electronic Arts, CD Projekt or even Microsoft no longer sell their products in Russia, while Twitch has chosen to no longer reward Russian users. On his side, Fortnite also made the decision to ban the participation of Russian players in tournaments where the reward was money.
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By charlanmhgWriting jeuxvideo.com
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