"Russia pulled out the UNO reverse card": Gamers discuss possible implications as country reportedly legalizes piracy

According to recent reports, Russia has legalized pirating video games and movies amongst the ongoing wave of sanctions on the country, following the current geopolitical tension.

Piracy and illegal distribution of media, including video games, have become a lot less widespread across the world (including Russia) in recent times. Governments are imposing strict cybercrime laws. And with the accessibility of content through mediums such as cloud gaming or subscription-based services like Game Pass has reduced the amount of people pirating content to a negligible amount.

However, the reported legalization of piracy has left gamers discussing the possible implications of the situation.

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How does the legalization of video game piracy in Russia affect the future of the industry?

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis has left the world divided and has created widespread geopolitical tensions across the globe. From international banking services like Swift to fast-food giant McDonald's, many brands have imposed sanctions on Russia and stopped their services in the country, and the video game industry is no exception.

Aside from developers such as Electronic Arts and CD Projekt Red, the ”big three” of the gaming industry (Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo), have all stopped the distribution of their products in the country. To counter these sanctions, Russia seems to have legalized piracy across the country.

While discussing the matter, several Twitter users pointed out how these sanctions are affecting common men who have nothing to do with the geopolitical tensions caused by the government.

Another Twitter user pointed out how this opens up the flood gate for potential malware infections, which has always been a high risk when pirating content. He also mentions how this could potentially leave the backdoor open for several hacking-related risks.

Several Twitter users also pointed out how the country is already notorious for pirating software, and this legalization does not actually change that.

Several users also pointed out that this could tarnish any possible future of Nintendo returning to the country.

Whatever may be the course of the gaming industry in the future, one thing is for certain, this legalization of piracy has certainly created turmoil.