If a new cold war emerges, will Russian players still be able to play WoW?

[Glesganed]

Hey guys, was just wondering bout something.
Whats gonna happen when a new cold war emerges between Russia and the rest of the world?

Blizzard is an US company and sanctions against Russia may include gaming.

Thoughts?

There never has been a Cold War between Russia and the rest of the world.

[fixx]

They will be able to, Blizzard EU is based in France. If they wanted to, they could declare Blizzard EU independent and continue business with Russians that way. There are many tricks like that. France is happy to do business with Russia.

Nope. US government can put all kinds of sanctions on ActivisionBlizzard until they comply with any possible trade embargo.

[Deleted]

Nope. US government can put all kinds of sanctions on ActivisionBlizzard until they comply with any possible trade embargo.

No they can't if Blizzard decides to make their european subsidiary an independent company.

[Glesganed]

Your country in basically our right-hand man in everything we (the US) do. Maybe you should move back to Russia, comrade. Obviously thats where your lineage lies. Don't act British when you're clearly Russian... Trolls...

I'm not so sure that will be the case when the UK is broken up. Scotland will be an independent country soon. We will get rid of the weps of mass destruction from the Clyde naval bases and stop blindly following the usa

[fixx]

No they can't if Blizzard decides to make their european subsidiary an independent company.

Your theory and thought experiment will fall flat at the point where US government would force ActivisionBlizzard cut all ties with BlizzEU which would mean no content developers, no patches and no nothing. Trade embargo really means that you won't be trading with the forbidden countries, not even via third parties or fake subsidiaries. There's very little to win and everything to lose for ATVI when fucking with the government.

[Deleted]

Honestly... you might not be able to play. Blizzard already banned Iran, Syria and a few other countries and I've seen players from there complain along time. Now, if a full blockade is made on Russia, you won't be able to play, as you won't be able to pay, for Blizzard won't accept your money, for it would be against the USA trade block laws.

[wych]

Your theory and thought experiment will fall flat at the point where US government would force ActivisionBlizzard cut all ties with BlizzEU which would mean no content developers, no patches and no nothing. Trade embargo really means that you won't be trading with the forbidden countries, not even via third parties or fake subsidiaries. There's very little to win and everything to lose for ATVI when fucking with the government.

There's very little to win except millions of dollars every month.

They'd easily find a way around it, these billionaires aren't stupid

- - - Updated - - -

Honestly... you might not be able to play. Blizzard already banned Iran, Syria and a few other countries and I've seen players from there complain along time. Now, if a full blockade is made on Russia, you won't be able to play, as you won't be able to pay, for Blizzard won't accept your money, for it would be against the USA trade block laws.

The number of Iranians and Syrians who play WoW is probably incredibly tiny, the number of Russians is significantly larger.

[fixx]

There's very little to win except millions of dollars every month.

They'd easily find a way around it, these billionaires aren't stupid

Millions to win, billions to lose. Indeed as you said they aren't stupid, and therefore wouldn't do it.

[wych]

Millions to win, billions to lose. Indeed as you said they aren't stupid, and therefore wouldn't do it.

You can keep believing it all you want, doesn't make it true. These billionaires in charge of companies like Activision are also the ones who are either funding, or close friends with those funding, the political elite in America. These people don't give a shit about patriotism, just about keeping profits up and raking in more money.

They'd "find" a loophole and Russians would carry on playing.

[Deleted]

Millions to win, billions to lose. Indeed as you said they aren't stupid, and therefore wouldn't do it.

They also have the option to move the entire company to a neutral country, such as Switzerland. At least there they won't be restricted like in the not-so-free USA.

[Deleted]

Hey guys, just arrived on the airport after a few hours in the air.
I'm not Russian by the way if anyone thought that.

There never has been a Cold War between Russia and the rest of the world.

True that!
But another Cold War might include more countries.

I share your thouhts by the way, fixx.

[checking facts]

Here, let me Google that for you
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockin...eos_in_Germany

"The blocking of YouTube videos in Germany is part of an ongoing dispute between the video sharing platform YouTube and the Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte, or GEMA, a performance rights organisation in Germany."

I'll stick to calling it "GEMA" lol

[fixx]

You can keep believing it all you want, doesn't make it true.

They also have the option to move the entire company to a neutral country, such as Switzerland. At least there they won't be restricted like in the not-so-free USA.

You're watching way too many movies if you believe in that shit.
How many corporations moved out of US to work around trade embargos (Cuba, Iran etc) so far?

[Deleted]

You're watching way too many movies if you believe in that shit.
How many corporations moved out of US to work around trade embargos (Cuba, Iran etc) so far?

Cuba and Iran weren't worth it. They don't make up a 6th of your income.

[wych]

You're watching way too many movies if you believe in that shit.
How many corporations moved out of US to work around trade embargos (Cuba, Iran etc) so far?

There's a huge difference between not getting money from Cuba and Iran, and not getting money from Russia.


Russia has a population of 143 million and is becoming more and more westernised with lots of money in their economy, Iran is a muslim country that has nowhere near as much money and isn't very westernised (as much as America tried to make it so). Cuba is a poor communist country.

It's risk vs reward and the income from Russia is huge compared to countries like Cuba.

[fixx]

It's risk vs reward and the income from Russia is huge compared to countries like Cuba.

Cuba and Iran weren't worth it. They don't make up a 6th of your income.

And how do you know/guess/think Russia makes 1/6 of ActivisionBlizzard's income? Remember the country is pretty well known for rampant software piracy and most of ATVI's games are pirated single player games. It's not Blizzard's decision but Activision decision first and foremost.

[madmanx]

They also have the option to move the entire company to a neutral country, such as Switzerland. At least there they won't be restricted like in the not-so-free USA.

Neutral does not equal free. Check Spain during WW2 for example.

It also isn't so easy to just pack up a company and move abroad.

Then there is the "minor" problem of public perception. If a company moves simply to avoid a well deserved trade embargo they will not get my business....or anyone else's I would assume.

[Deleted]

Then there is the "minor" problem of public perception. If a company moves simply to avoid a well deserved trade embargo they will not get my business....or anyone else's I would assume.

They didn't deserve it, if anyone deserves a trade embargo placed on them it's the USA.

Luckily most people don't care about companys evading embargos, when they buy something they want to enjoy. Oh and who's buying all those soyuz tickets to be able to fly to the ISS again? Ticket prices should be raised hundredfold for certain customers.

[Kaleredar]

Blocking a country isn't even possible. Germany is partially blocked from youtube content for years already, but there are still many ways for germans to circumvent it, proxies are available like sand at the beach. US companies don't give a shit about what the US wants anyway, they exist only to make cash.

"proxying" a free website is one thing. An actual trade embargo is another. As in, Blizzard cannot accept money from Russian players.