Email Gabe, here:
I did back in 2015 when I was an edgy idiot, upset about their removal of the game Hatred because it is literally a spree shooting simulator. And I was all like “free speech”. And Gabe actually replied! And put the game back up too.
So email him. He might reply.
Nontraditional sexualities huh? Pretty sure being gay happened way before Russia or any previous nation on that land
Why do anything to appeal to fucking Russian regime bullshit? Tell them to fuck off! Cowards.
Because then they’ll block steam in Russia.
I’m not defending Valve here they need to have more values, but realistically this game was never going to be available for sale in Russia. No matter what they did.
What’s wrong with Steam getting blocked in Russia? It’s not like Valve allows direct purchases by russian users.
Russian users losing access to their libraries without VPN is their own problem. They are responsible for their government, no one else.
Um, what? Most Russians that browse Steam do not endorse the regime (can’t check, but probably so given what happens in the West)
Because Gaben is a libertarian fuckwit.
Fuck his greedy ass. And fuck G*mers defending his monopoly.
So Valve does not accept money from russian users directly (the roundabout methods are well known by russian users and Valve does nothing in this case even though it acts against similar methods when publishers make the call), so why would they even care what Roskomnadzor says? What can Roskomnadzor do to Valve?
I will note that Valve also does nothing about genocidal imperialist russian reviews on this DLC for support of Ukraine in Workers and Resources:
I’m from Donetsk. We have been bombarded since 2014 by the state in which I was born and lived. Declaring us enemies of the people. I am for the Russian SVO. Buy a dls only because of the Zaporizhia NPP, it is well made <3
You can check the number of civilians deaths in Donbas in 2014 vs 2022 to present and look at what happened to cities like Bahmut during the russian invasion. Not to mention the 1.5 million Ukrainians who had to leave just in 2014 (including my family members).
And yet we have to hear faux-libertarian polemics about alleged belief in “freedom of speech” and arrogant gibberish about “I am a free speech absolutist!” from individuals who know nothing about the value of free speech.
I said it before and I will say it again, American companies cannot be relied upon as a source of digital services. Both for systematic reasons (submission to the local oligarch/criminal regime) and philosophical reasons (a culture of ignorance and lack of desire to go beyond theatrical proclamations about freedom of this or freedom of that).
Let’s say you think I am being uncharitable in my attitude. Then tell me, why does Valve even read notices from Roskomnadzor (not to mention implementing their orders)? Russia is sanctioned and they are not supposed be able to make purchases at all. And yet Valve feels the need to follow orders from Roskomnadzor. What’s the logic here?
i’ll note that, as the article mentions, even apple and google haven’t removed the game in russia (at least not yet)
are valve complicit, or just cowards?
Both, they’ve always capitulated to states for that juicy 1% profit margin
Honestly, that’s very surprising.
“In Russia”
Well ig government pressure
Guess Russia has the right climate for snowflakes lol.
Why are they doing business in Russia?
They started their business in there a while ago (I believe they were the first online distributor who managed to succeed in the Russian market, despite media fears of mass piracy), and I would imagine that revoking all of the users’ Steam Libraries wouldn’t be a popular move, or terminating all their accounts.
I’m not sure why they continued purchases after 2022 though. Maybe their Eastern Europe payment processor doesn’t ask too many questions?
