The funds raised by the Russian sales of his games will be donated to Ukrainian charities.
The fence of the industry to Russia has not stopped growing since its invasion of Ukrainewith companies like EA blocking the sale of their games on Russia and Belarus, or with Microsoft ceasing the sale of new products. For its part, Gran Turismo 7 was left without a premiere in Russia, leaving the rest of the PlayStation releases up in the air.
On this occasion who has taken a step forward has been Garry Newmancreator of the successful Rust and Garry’s Mod, who has issued a statement on Twitter, where far from withdrawing his games from Russia, he has opted for raise their prices. As Newman has denounced in an email sent to pc gamerthese were being victims of opportunismby taking advantage of the collapse of the Russian ruble to buy them from abroad at a lower price, accessing through a VPN.
Garry’s Mod has gone up to 750 rubles ($6.40), up from its previous price of 365 rubles, while Rust has risen from 1,465 rubles to 3,000 rubles ($25.65). Newman has accompanied this price increase with the promise that all funds raised for the sales of these games from Russia will be donated to Ukrainian charities.
Newman will donate $500,000 to help war victimsAlthough this move could be attractive to Russian gamers who are opposed to the invasion, Newman believes that the games will sell less. “There are many Russians who oppose what their country is doing, but I don’t trust that buying our games is an appropriate way to protest against that. Especially considering that Valve will still take its cut. And especially since they probably won’t be able to get a working payment method right now.”
Newman has also committed to making a donation of $500,000 to help the war victims. The video game industry’s response is joining many international companies in an attempt to isolate Russia, an effort that has even been called for by the Kyiv government.
More about: Rust, Garry’s Mod, Russia and Ukraine.