The Russian developer behind the mystical RPG Loop Hero is telling players to just pirate the game if they are barred from buying it due to sanctions on Russia. In a post on Russian social media platform VK first spotted by Vice, the game’s developer Four Quarters addressed Russian fans who are currently unable to access Steam or Nintendo Switch’s eShop to buy Loop Hero. Both Steam and Nintendo have temporarily stopped accepting Russian payments, effectively barring the entire country from their inventories.
The developers invited players to torrent the game, even going as far as including a link to a torrent of Loop Hero on the Russian torrent site RuTracker in their post. “It is not known when all this will end, therefore, in such difficult times, we can only help everyone to raise the pirate flag (together with vpn) and share the most popular distribution on the rutracker,” wrote Four Quarter, according to an English translation by Google Translate.
Many fans of Loop Hero have asked if there were ways they could directly support or compensate the developers. Due to sanctions on state-owned banks in Russia, many Russian game developers haven’t been able to cash out their earnings. In lieu of sending donations, Four Quarters asked fans to take care of themselves.
“We are very grateful for your support, but the truth is that everything is fine with us, send this support to your family and friends at this difficult time,” wrote Four Quarters.
The ongoing Ukraine invasion has stalled — but not completely stopped — development of the new Loop Hero update. The update is nearly 80 percent finished, according to Four Quarters, and it plans to complete it soon. The developer is working on a new patch, as well as a completely new version of Loop Hero for the Switch. After the update is released on Switch and PC, players can expect a smartphone version of Loop Hero. But how quickly that happens all depends on the outcome of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and if and when the US and EU plan to drop sanctions. Between bans by the Russian government and sanctions from the West, Russians have been effectively blocked from Western tech companies and all their offerings.
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