How to buy games in Our Country under sanctions

After the start of a special operation by the armed forces in Ukraine, many game companies decided to suspend sales in Our Country. Some banks have been disconnected from SWIFT, and Visa and Mastercard payment systems have suspended operations in Our Country. 

For these reasons, many games are no longer available to users. Transfer to a virtual wallet using cards and accounts of the Federation remained only in dreams. But, nevertheless, prohibitions make us smarter. And gamers who are accustomed to indulging in the imperfections of games – bugs, and even more so new obstacles did not stop. So ways began to appear ways out of the current problem.

Purchasing games on Steam

Steam is the most popular playground, including among users. It serves not only as a good store for users and developer and publisher companies, but also as a unifying server in online games, a platform for players to communicate, a place for distributing their creative content, and a convenient tool for storing, downloading, launching games and collecting individual achievements in them. But at the moment, the main role of Steam for users has been lost. Many games from foreign companies are no longer available, and it is impossible to replenish the wallet using the usual methods. However, some loopholes still remain.

Sale of virtual inventory and delivery of games

The most obvious alternative to the usual replenishment of the wallet is, of course, the sale of virtual inventory and the return of previously purchased games back to the seller. Due to this, players can ignore deposits using third-party wallet replenishment sources. The “goods” that already exist inside the platform are exchanged for money, either purchased earlier or obtained during the game and completing tasks.

But this solution to the problem has a number of disadvantages. When selling inventory, a lot depends on the availability of expensive items and the median prices. So, if you set the cost much higher than the median shows, then the product will not be bought. And when returning a game, it checks how long ago it was purchased and how many hours were spent in it. Only with a short acquisition period and small indicators of the time spent playing the game, the return is accepted, and the money appears in the wallet.

Qiwi from Kazakhstan

Another curious loophole has been discovered, through which players can replenish their wallet in the usual way. To do this, two accounts are created on the Qiwi account – one in rubles, the second in tenge. The second account is set as the main one. Then, in the same Qiwi, we are looking for a Steam replenishment (Kazakhstan), we fill everything according to the standard – and we receive funds to our Steam wallet.

What are the advantages of this method? Firstly, it only seems tricky, but in fact it is quite easy to implement. Secondly, the rate is quite beneficial for users, on average, 1 ruble corresponds to 5 tenge.

Among the shortcomings, an important factor to note is the waiting time. The fact is that at the initial stage, in order to use transfers between accounts in Qiwi, you need to confirm your identity. That is, you should enter personal data, and then wait for them to be confirmed by the Qiwi employees themselves. This may take days.

Codes, keys and gift cards

Do not forget about such finds as wallet replenishment codes, game activation keys and gift cards. They existed before, but in today’s realities have become a common alternative. At the moment, they can be purchased from publishers (My.Games, Buka, SoftClub) and third-party sites.

However, there are no drawbacks to this method. First of all, it is not always possible to activate codes and keys on international and foreign platforms in our region. Usually this is marked next to the product with the sign “NO RU”. But there is a way out – buying exclusively on sites.

Also, quite often, when using this method, gamers meet with fabulous prices. Therefore, when purchasing a key for the game, it is better to check the official cost of the goods.

The most common problem that players face when making transactions with the seller is fraud. For this reason, it is better to take keys, cards and codes in stores from official representatives.

Purchasing games from the Epic Games Store

Steam’s direct competitor is the Epic Games Store. This store is new to the gaming market. It has a more streamlined interface and a shorter toolkit, and there aren’t many collaborating companies or selling games yet. He did not manage to win the world fame of his competitor, but he found a way to attract the attention of many players for this. And this way is our way out of the problem. 

Users may fall under the distribution of exclusive games. Every week on their platform, Epics give away old hits for free and, conversely, new ones. By the way, these games are often of high quality. For example, Alan Wake, Vampyr, Tomb Raider, Hitman, Amnesia, Metro 2033 Redux have already participated in this promotion. As you understand, since the games are distributed “for free”, you don’t need to replenish your wallet, as in the case of Steam. In order to get an exclusive, the player only needs to register.

The obvious disadvantage of this method is that the promotion is valid only for one specific game. That is, the user can only get what they offer him, ordering something he wants will not work.

Purchasing games from the PlayStation Store

Playstation Store is a playground for fans of consoles from the Japanese Sony. Until recently, the platform’s main problem was disconnecting from SWIFT. And this problem was easily resolved by replenishing the balance using digital codes in official stores. But today’s realities are changing quickly – now the store itself is not available in the Playstation Store for users from the Federation. For this reason, only a less secure and more sophisticated method of acquiring games on this platform remained.

It is about creating a foreign account. It is worth noting that for this method it will be possible to pay for games only through a foreign card and wallet replenishment codes. But there is also good news. VPN is not required for these operations, just go to the Playstation Store and select a different region when registering an account.

It is better to approach the choice of the region more carefully, since it will be tied to the geodata of a foreign card or activation code. It is not easy for all countries to find wallet replenishment codes, and not all countries allow issuing a foreign card. First you need to choose which payment method you are going to use.

In the first case, you will have to look for recharge codes on third-party non-official sites. Therefore, there is a high risk of encountering unscrupulous sellers. And there is no specific instruction from the series “how not to run into a scammer”. Only a few general recommendations can be given: do not immediately pay the full cost of the goods, stick to familiar and trusted payment methods, and do not leak personal data.

In the second case, this is a task for those who are especially patient. First of all, you need to find a country in which you can issue a card. For example, China, Turkey or the Emirates. Then – a bank that will cooperate. When looking for a foreign bank, they pay attention to the conditions, the list of documents (the less, the better) and the possibility of registration remotely.

Then register by specifying the selected region. Link and confirm your email and you’re done! You can now buy games from the PlayStation Store.

Buying games from the Xbox Games Store

Xbox is the main competitor of the Playstation, and the Xbox Games Store is a game store that uses the console from the American company Microsoft. In addition to the obvious problem of unavailability of replenishment of the balance due to disconnection from SWIFT, another problem has appeared – a ban on buying games in Our Country. Fortunately, the ban was selective.

Buying keys for games on third-party sites and from intermediaries is also relevant in this case. Such keys can still be found on sites such as Ozon, Yandex.Market and Plati.ru. Unfortunately, in this case, this is the only possible option for purchasing games. On official sites, due to the ban on the purchase of games, it will not be possible to purchase keys – they simply are not there. Therefore, it is also worth remembering the risks!

When activating the key, you should pay attention to which region it is designed for. If in , then activation can be done through the Microsoft Store application. If it’s foreign, then first you need to enable the VPN, and then use the redeem.microsoft.com browser page – this address immediately leads to the activation of the key in the store.

Purchasing Nintendo Switch games

Gamers have found a way to play through the Nintendo Switch, a game console from the Japanese company Nintendo. Despite the fact that the official Nintendo eShop is no longer accessible – it is not available in Our Country, an immediate solution appeared to the resulting problem.

For this method, the console is reflashed, so that games on it can be played for free. In fact, this method is possible for Playstation and Xbox consoles as well, but for Nintendo users, it is the most difficult to implement. As the programmers explain, the problem lies in the very strong protection of this console, which is simply not available on other consoles.

So, how do you get a flashed game console? There are several options. First, it can be purchased online. For example, already flashed devices can be found on ad sites and in thematic communities in social networks. Secondly, many people are engaged in flashing for money. You just need to search for an ad on the ad site and agree on a flashing of your console.

Of course, this method is quite risky. It is not known how competent the person from the ad is, whether he will cope with his task or break your prefix. And the worst option, but nonetheless common – thirdly, buy a special chip on the same online sites and reflash it yourself.

Purchasing games on Google Play and the App Store

We all know the mobile online stores of the Android Google Play and the Apple App Store, where you can find many games and applications for your phone. The new sanctions even affected them. The same disconnection from SWIFT had its effect. Initially, to purchase games on mobile platforms, you could use the same methods as for PC and set-top boxes (Kazakh QIWI and co-badged card), but things changed pretty quickly. And now there are only two methods of acquiring games.

First of all, there are the acquisition of free games and free versions of games. The fact is that there are a huge number of them on the presented mobile sites. Basically, these are visuals and fighting games, moreover, recently quite often they turn out to be with good graphics and an interesting plot. 

These are games like Endless Summer and Moe Era that came from large platforms, as well as those specially created for the mobile platform Fighting Tiger – Liberal, Romance Club, Dangerous Fellows. There are even open-world games originally designed for multiple platforms, such as Genshin Impact.

Of the disadvantages of using free games, two points should be noted. First, in-game purchases. They are by no means always obligatory, but often among them there are those that become hell without internal acquisitions. However, domestic purchases are now somewhat difficult. Secondly, the ban on the distribution of advertising in Our Country by Google played a cruel joke. And now games built on monetization through ads just stopped working. Luckily, there are other alternatives too!

An effective option, thanks to which you can replenish the balance on Google Play and the App Store and, accordingly, buy games, is to use all the same codes. Although it is difficult to buy them, activation remains available to this day.

In order to activate the gift code on Google Play, just go to the “Payments and subscriptions” section in your account and click on the “Use recharge code” button. In the App Store, the “Redeem a gift card or code” button, which can be seen in the user’s personal account, is responsible for activating the code.

Which of the game manufacturers left Our Country

Products of a Polish company CD Projekt REDare no longer available to us even on friendly sites. Moreover, the company promised to roll back all patches (updates) for Cyberpunk 2077. As a result of such actions, users who bought the game before the sanctions will be able to play it only in the original “raw” version. On the GOG.com platform, owned by this company, it is no longer possible to purchase a new game, but previously purchased ones remain available.

American epic Games announced on their official Twitter news account that they were suspending trade with Our Country. Now on the site of the Epic Games Store, the purchase of games in our country is not available.

French Ubisofttemporarily suspended the sale of games to users. The company’s online platform, the Ubisoft Store, has now stopped working in Our Country. When you try to enter the store, a notification is displayed: “Not available in your region.” However, previously purchased products are still available for play and download.

Ukrainian GSC Game Worldalso stopped sales in Our Country. In the official announcement, they announced that players who pre-ordered STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl on digital before the events in Ukraine will receive the game in the future. On a physical medium, the publication is not expected even in the case of pre-order. Moreover, the players have not yet returned the money for refusing to buy the Stalker.

American Microsoft, in turn, also temporarily stopped sales on the territory of the Federation. This was stated by its President and Vice Chairman Brad Smith. Together with Microsoft, the American developer owned by the company left the market ZeniMax Mediaand its subsidiary publisher Bethesda Softworks. At the same time, free games and functions of the online store Microsoft Store are still available.

Large Japanese company Capcom did not stay away. Steam is the only platform where the company’s games were available until March 18 and, moreover, participated in the recent personal sale. Now, although the pages in the store are still available, it is no longer possible to buy the product being sold. The company has not yet commented on this decision.

The Japanese subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation, a game development and publishing conglomerate -​ Sony Interactive Entertainment– made an official statement about the temporary withdrawal from the market. Previously purchased games from her can be downloaded, but the online store on the PlayStation Store console is no longer available.

Japanese Nintendoalso suspended the sale of Nintendo Switch games and consoles in Our Country. The company also announced that the Nintendo eShop digital platform was temporarily put into “maintenance” mode. Unfortunately, due to this decision, not only purchases, but also downloads of previously purchased games are now unavailable to users. However, representatives of the company assure that the reasons were the problems of logistics and the instability of the exchange rate. Hopefully, once the problem is resolved, Nintendo games will be playable again.

An American corporation also interrupted commercial relations. Electronic Arts, US publisher Rockstar Games, Polish company Bloober Team, american Activision Blizzard, online store Humble Bundle, mobile game developer Supercell, famous for the AR game Pokemon GO Nianticand others.

How complicated is the purchase of games due to the disconnection of banks from SWIFT and the withdrawal of payment systems from the Federation

The disconnection of a number of banks from the SWIFT international interbank payment system has led to the fact that most cards on international and foreign servers have become unavailable. The withdrawal of Visa and Mastercard from the market only exacerbated the situation. Thus, even having the opportunity to view the product and its cost in stores of friendly sites, we will not be able to make a purchase in them.

So, Steam, beloved by gamers, was taken hostage by SWIFT. A year ago, due to changes in our legislation (amendments to the law on​ “On the National Payment System”¹) disappeared and such opportunities as the use of “Mobile payments”, “Yandex. Money” and Qiwi. The Mir card has never been available, since it is not used in the international payment system. Only PayPal remained, but he also decided to suspend work in Our Country.

American company Riot Gamesdisabled the replenishment of the in-game currency. Moreover, this problem affected not only users from Our Country and Belarus, but also from Georgia, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries. According to an official statement, the firm has faced sanctions imposed on these countries, payment methods disabled in Our Country, as well as decisions by some partners. They claim that they are already looking for alternative options.

The Chinese have faced a similar problem. MyHoYo. Due to the disabled methods of replenishing the in-game currency, they, in turn, lost the donations of the ru-community. Representatives of the company do not comment on the situation.

Popular questions and answers

Sources of

1. http://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_115625/