![]() VPNs that mask users’ internet protocol (IP) addresses, giving them anonymity, can negatively affect the overall gaming experience by increasing “ping” – a lag between executing an action and the corresponding result. “Just like with League of Legends and other games, some people will leave the game for other ones that are not restricted but others will refuse and use VPNs (virtual private networks) or other workaround applications to connect to the game,” he told Al Jazeera.īut even workarounds have drawbacks. Saman, who started playing Clash Royale a few months after it was launched in early 2016, and played Clash of Clans for two years prior to that, said Iranians are used to adapting to online entertainment roadblocks. League of Legends is the world’s most popular video game in the competitive sphere, but Iran-based user accounts were cut off it from it late last year [File: Jean Chung/Bloomberg’ “The US has so many sanctions on Iran that news of more sanctions or more restrictions because of those sanctions are hardly surprising anymore,” said Saman, a 24-year-old gamer who asked Al Jazeera to withhold his surname to protect his privacy. Many Iranian gamers were disappointed, but not particularly shocked, when they learned of Supercell’s decision to effectively pull out of the Iranian market.Ī little more than a year ago, the massively popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game League of Legends, developed by Riot Games, became inaccessible to users logging in from Iran. While the sanctions are aimed at pressuring Tehran back to the negotiating table, they have also rippled through the fabric of Iran’s online gaming community. Iranians have increasingly found themselves locked out of global online services since 2018, when the administration of United States President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal with world powers and embarked on a “maximum pressure campaign” of relentless economic sanctions. Supercell’s decision is not the first time a major developer has left Iran-based users in the cold. Supercell has not said why it is not re-upping its deal with Cafe Bazaar, but the move marks the developer’s full retreat from the Iranian market.īoth Supercell and Cafe Bazaar declined Al Jazeera’s requests for further comments. Iranian players will no longer be able to play our games. Iranians have been cut off from common international payment methods for decades. ![]() The now-expired deal between Supercell and Cafe Bazaar was somewhat unique in that it allowed Iranian users to make in-app purchases using the national currency, the rial, through the local banking system. The Iranian gaming community first learned about Supercell’s decision in a statement written in Farsi on the developer’s website early last month, when it announced that it was not renewing its contract with Cafe Bazaar, an Android marketplace with more than 40 million Iranian users.Īs a result, “Iranian players will no longer be able to play our games,” said the statement. The titles will be completely unavailable to them later this year after the next update is released. ![]() October is poised to be a brutal month for Iran based fans of the massively popular mobile games Clash of Clans and Clash Royale, after the company that developed the games set in motion policies that will effectively ban Iranian accounts.įinnish mobile game developer Supercell, which is majority-owned by China’s Tencent, pulled the trigger last week on blocking in-app purchases for Iran-based gamers. ![]()
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