Russia is Legalizing Video Game Piracy in Response to Sanctions

gamerant.com:

Russia's status as one of the world's leading nuclear powers has kept most other countries from responding to its invasion of Ukraine with military action, but other steps have been taken to try to stop the war. Countries around the world have imposed severe sanctions on Russia in an effort to destroy the country's economy, with numerous tech companies and video game developers joining the effort by refusing to sell their products in the region until the crisis is over.

The economic sanctions on Russia have had an astounding impact on the country's economy, reducing the value of Russia's ruble below Roblox's Robux. Russia will have to react to the sanctions from each industry in different ways, but when it comes to things like tech and video games, it seems to have come up with a way to get around the sanctions. The Russian government is effectively making it legal for its citizens to pirate video games and other content from companies located in countries that have imposed sanctions on it.

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As reported by City A.M. and IGN, the Russian government is now allowing it companies to use IP from companies located in other countries without actually having to pay them. It's also been suggested that torrent sites will be unblocked to make it easier for Russian citizens to pirate content. Russian citizens will be able to pirate movies without needing to fear any kind of legal repercussions, and this would extend to other forms of entertainment as well, like video games and TV shows.

However, it's been reported by PlayStation Lifestyle that a sizable portion of Russian consumers tend to pirate content anyway, so it's unclear what effect this will really have. It's quite possible that