Russian Developer Encourages Players to Pirate Its Loop Hero Game Amid Sanctions

gamerant.com:

The war in Ukraine has been going on for more than a month now, with sanctions only piling up in Russia and impacting its citizens. Due to this, Loop Hero's developer, Russian company Four Quarters, has been encouraging players to pirate the game since they wouldn't be able to buy it in the country.

Loop Hero was released in March 2021 and is one of the best indie games of 2021. Developed by Four Quarters and published by Devolver Digital, the hero of the game is trapped in a loop thanks to a being called The Lich. The player must collect and place cards that are either buildings, enemies, or terrain in order for the hero to earn loot and conquer tough bosses to end the loop cycle.

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Amid sanctions in Russia preventing those in the country from buying games off Steam, Four Quarters has encouraged players to pirate Loop Hero, even linking to a torrent on RuTracker. They also reminded fans to use a VPN when they use the torrent link. Fans still wanted to support the studio and the game, further asking how they could do so, but the developers at Four Quarters reportedly said they were doing fine, despite not being able to cash out payments through Steam amid the sanctions. They could not elaborate further on what the war has cost them for fear of arrest.

This news comes sometime after Russia had made piracy legal to dull the impact of the sanctions. This would essentially be the only way most Russian citizens would be able to access most media that they had more access to before the war began. Game developers in Russia have been impacted greatly since they can't make any money off their games at this time, but it's also good to see developers like Four Quarters trying to find a way for