Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 is made by Saber Interactive, a studio with many connections to Russia. How much money it sends to fund Russian war in Ukraine? - AIN
This debate had been brought up back when Atomic Heart was bound to be released. Many people argued back then that it’s fine buying the game since the dev team had completely relocated to Cyprus (very popular country for Russians to move to next to Kazakhstan and numerous European countries), thus not funding the Russian government through taxes.
However, given that the dev team still lives in Russia this time, there’s not much to debate. The figures the author mentions check out and there’s no other way to put it, really, that gamers are, in part at least, funding Russia.
Sure, the company might have opposing views to Russia, but firstly, they haven’t moved to a different country, which is at least a little concerning, and secondly, are a legal entity in Russia, so they pay them regardless of motivation.
It’s interesting to compare to the Israel-Palestine debate, too. By the same logic, one should avoid buying any games from US-based developers, because those taxes are going to fund the genocide in Gaza. But of course, when you follow the logic to that end, one starts to consider their own income taxes in that debate.
Just because there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism doesn’t mean that we have zero control over what we consume. It’s perfectly fine to hold a viewpoint of trying to minimize harm where you can and when you’re aware of it. Where you draw your lines doesn’t have to be perfect either (after all, we’re human).
The difference with Atomic Heart is that it wasn’t just made by a Russian developer, but that it also promoted a questionable outlook on the Soviet Union that closely mirrors the one the current Russian government is promoting.
This debate had been brought up back when Atomic Heart was bound to be released. Many people argued back then that it’s fine buying the game since the dev team had completely relocated to Cyprus (very popular country for Russians to move to next to Kazakhstan and numerous European countries), thus not funding the Russian government through taxes.
However, given that the dev team still lives in Russia this time, there’s not much to debate. The figures the author mentions check out and there’s no other way to put it, really, that gamers are, in part at least, funding Russia.
Sure, the company might have opposing views to Russia, but firstly, they haven’t moved to a different country, which is at least a little concerning, and secondly, are a legal entity in Russia, so they pay them regardless of motivation.
It’s interesting to compare to the Israel-Palestine debate, too. By the same logic, one should avoid buying any games from US-based developers, because those taxes are going to fund the genocide in Gaza. But of course, when you follow the logic to that end, one starts to consider their own income taxes in that debate.
Just because there’s no ethical consumption under capitalism doesn’t mean that we have zero control over what we consume. It’s perfectly fine to hold a viewpoint of trying to minimize harm where you can and when you’re aware of it. Where you draw your lines doesn’t have to be perfect either (after all, we’re human).
I appreciate that perspective, thank you
The difference with Atomic Heart is that it wasn’t just made by a Russian developer, but that it also promoted a questionable outlook on the Soviet Union that closely mirrors the one the current Russian government is promoting.