Since the war between Russia and Ukraine started, many companies already pulled out of Russia. On top of that, sanctions are activated with a rapid succession. This meant that many big developers and companies are also stopping their services in Russia and leaving gamers in Russia alone.

In order to overcome the adverse effects of those sanctions, Russia simply legalized piracy of games and other digital media materials. A new law states that “this new act waives the need for Russian companies to pay patent holders from ‘unfriendly countries’ for the use of their intellectual property. The list of so-called “unfriendly countries” contain almost the entirety of the EU and the United States.

As much as they do not openly say that they legalize piracy, actions speak louder than words. Unblocking torrent sites is also a matter being discussed. When it comes to live-service games, it is still not possible to enjoy them as it is not just some sort of “one-time” data storage and they need a constantly active connection. But VPNs are reported to dig through the restrictions.