Russian indie game developer Four Quarters, best known for creating 2021's endless RPG Loop Hero, has told players to pirate the game if they can't legitimately buy it. Even the game's publisher, Devolver Digital, agrees with the hack.
Sanctions imposed on Russia following the invasion of Ukraine prevent some players from purchasing Loop Hero through the Nintendo Switch store.
In a post on the Russian social media platform VK, Four Quarters highlights the issues facing gamers (thanks, Vice). He said that players should "raise the pirate flag" if they can't buy the game through normal methods and shared a link to a torrent of the game.
In a second post, the developer said players who couldn't buy the game offered him donations and thanked fans for their generosity, but asked them to support their friends and family.
The game's publisher, Devolver Digital, later followed up with a statement to PC Gamer, endorsing Four Quarters for encouraging players to hack Loop Hero if hit with financial penalties.
“Devolver Digital fully supports Four Quarters as they navigate this incredibly difficult time,” the statement read.
"We have communicated regularly with the team to help them where possible and have been alerted to the statement in advance, which we support 100 percent."
In between encouraging piracy, Four Quarters said it is continuing development on the next Loop Hero update. A mobile port of the game will be released after the patch is released, but there are no plans to bring it to PlayStation or Xbox consoles.
Four Quarters has previously voiced its opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Twitter.
Several video game publishers have changed their stance on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine. Microsoft and PlayStation stopped sales in the country, EA stopped sales and removed the Russian teams from FIFA 22 and NHL 22, and Amazon Games stopped the Russian localization of MMO New World.