Sacred Symbols+, Episode 311 | Gaming While Russian: Redux (Patreon)

Please welcome Roman of the Russian gaming podcast SplitSkrin back to the show. Roman first appeared on Sacred Symbols+ in the Spring of 2022 (Episode #197), and I (Colin) invited him onto the show to discuss what's happening in Russia from a gaming industry perspective. I'm having him back more than a year later to talk about how things have evolved, and our conversation breaks down the four major platforms' varied realities on the modern Russian market. Between embargos, sanctions, and the strife-laden geopolitical atmosphere surrounding Russia's invasion of Ukraine, you may not be surprised to learn that each entity's audience is dealing with things radically differently. On PlayStation, for instance, Russian players are using Turkish PSN accounts to buy products with one-time use credit cards full of cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, as of two months ago, your Xbox will only work in Russia if you purchased it from a domestic source. If you imported your console, you'll receive a bespoke error message when going online, one Microsoft has yet to fully acknowledge. Nintendo's situation is probably the most interesting, as the entire operation has officially left Russia, but left its old executives in charge of a licensing operation that's nonetheless importing Nintendo products. And PC? Well, it's a shitshow, but you already knew that. Click play and join us for a fascinating chat, but be warned: The ever-scary topic of politics is the underlying theme.

Roman's Channel on YouTube