Iranian gamers unable to access Anthem or Apex Legends due to sanctions

[Deleted member 51266]

What's with the thread titles regarding this game/EA on this site (yeah it was changed already). Another #gamersriseup esque thread was the "EA and Respawn says fuck you for being poor". Blocking the games does really suck though for all the people not being able to play them, they seem like great games. Hopefully the issue can be resolved.

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Not just here, but on reddit/discord/twitter/youtube, etc, too.

Hating EA makes the average gamer feel and look super educated about the industry, that's why it happens so often with EA but not with any other major gaming corporate with equally shitty business practices.

 

[Window]

I guess the reps sort of have a broad rule book to go by and then every individual rep has his/her interpretation around it...I guess it's so abrupt cause they have been told to keep it that way...not the reps fault how to behave on a geopolitical situation...OP should remove the reps posts he just seems to act like an angry child with the reps when they have nothing to do with the whole thing.

Edit : the fact that he has left the names intact shows his anger/hatred towards the poor guys, the decent thing would have been to edit those out

The EA thing is again policy driven, I mean there are a whole lot of things regarding sanctions everyone can argue on but is this space the right platform to do so?

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Does EA ban the sale of their games in Iran? Or just online services and support? If the latter, the reps should have simply stated their policy instead of ending the conversation so abruptly because they're just fulfilling their role of responding to customer enquiries. The second rep handled it well enough. Unless US trade sanctions ban all communication with Iran, I don't see how simply responding to a customer enquiry risks creating geopolitical scene or government reprisal. I also don't see why discussing this issue should be off limits on this forum. Games are played internationally and there's nothing wrong with discussing the impact of tense relations between countries on people's everyday activities, even something as mundane as videogames.

 

[Neurom]

Does EA ban the sale of their games in Iran? Or just online services and support? If the latter, the reps should have simply stated their policy instead of ending the conversation so abruptly because they're just fulfilling their role of responding to customer enquiries. The second rep handled it well enough. Unless US trade sanctions ban all communication with Iran, I don't see how simply responding to a customer enquiry risks creating geopolitical scene or government reprisal. I also don't see why discussing this issue should be off limits on this forum. Games are played internationally and there's nothing wrong with discussing the impact of tense relations between countries on people's everyday activities, even something as mundane as videogames.

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From what I understand from this thread it would be both, I guess the OP was using a VPN to contact the reps...the reason why I say there is a broad rule book and every rep has his/her interpretation is how every rep has responded it to the query, from what I understand it's not standard hence the variations in responses, one cannot hold them accountable for their interpretation of company policy.

There is a separate section on the fourm where geopolitical matters can very easily be discussed this discussion isn't a part of 'gaming' when the purview of the policies have much wider impact..

What does the OP intend to achieve through this? I mean there is nothing EA can do about it

It sounds much more like a rage post than anything related to gaming...ohh look how the EA reps spoke to me on something which is larger than this...

 

[Dyno]

Not just here, but on reddit/discord/twitter/youtube, etc, too.

Hating EA makes the average gamer feel and look super educated about the industry, that's why it happens so often with EA but not with any other major gaming corporate with equally shitty business practices.

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Sure. I mean it's not like EA spent a good part of a year trying to fight Belgium on its own laws because they want gambling mechanics in their games right? But buckles immediately here. Its almost as if they're kind of crap. But hey feel free to decide to the issue is people criticising a massive company and that they need help defend their little feelings.

 

[Deleted member 51266]

Sure. I mean it's not like EA spent a good part of a year trying to fight Belgium on its own laws because they want gambling mechanics in their games right? But buckles immediately here. Its almost as if they're kind of crap. But hey feel free to decide to the issue is people criticising a massive company and that they need help defend their little feelings.

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Yes, EA is the only company that does lootboxes, yes.

 

[Window]

From what I understand from this thread it would be both, I guess the OP was using a VPN to contact the reps...the reason why I say there is a broad rule book and every rep has his/her interpretation is how every rep has responded it to the query, from what I understand it's not standard hence the variations in responses, one cannot hold them accountable for their interpretation of company policy.

There is a separate section on the fourm where geopolitical matters can very easily be discussed this discussion isn't a part of 'gaming' when the purview of the policies have much wider impact..

What does the OP intend to achieve through this? I mean there is nothing EA can do about it

It sounds much more like a rage post than anything related to gaming...ohh look how the EA reps spoke to me on something which is larger than this...

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It is worth discussing this side of the forum because it specifically relates to gaming. How many people know that online gaming services are barred in Iran? I certainly didn't before this thread. It's worth looking at specific issues which stem from geopolitcal tensions because it helps define the many ways in which everyday people are impacted. It helps us understand the consequences of sanctions. This is of course a small blip on the wider scale of difficulties the people of Iran face from international trade sanctions but it is worth discussing nontheless. I'm not a fan of pushing aside all politics off to a separate side of the board because people on this side couldn't care less about such issues.

 

[Grimsen]

Shitty sanctions aside, was the OP really expecting a response from EA's chat support after introducing himself as a journalist? Amateur hour.

 

[Solace]

This whole sanction tactic has done more to harm the Iranian people than the government unfortunately.

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I was THIS close to buying a house, then all of a sudden prices got tripled. Fucking fuck trump. Fuck.

 

[Razgriz417]

What's with the weird title? Sorry OP it isn't EA's fault, just Trump and his shitty sanctions

 

[jts]

Not just here, but on reddit/discord/twitter/youtube, etc, too.

Hating EA makes the average gamer feel and look super educated about the industry, that's why it happens so often with EA but not with any other major gaming corporate with equally shitty business practices.

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Poor EA, people just randomly pick at them. What an unfortunate situation.

 

[aevanhoe]

Sanctions suck, and it's hard. I get a feeling some people here are like "well, if they don't like the sanctions, perhaps they should change their government!"

Ok, I do agree the original title of the thread was mislieading - "insulting" is not the word I'd use, because EA certainly didn't do it because they wanted to insult Iranian gamers. That's silly. But at least I can offer some sympathy and the rest of the forum should too, because they most likely have no fucking clue what it's like to live under sanctions and not be able to do anything about it.

People here have to realize that regime change in a country like Iran is very difficult and it's not like people in Iran could just wake up one day and decide they want new leadership. Like, in US, as terrible as Trump is, all Americans have to do is vote for the other person in the next election (with all the negatives of the electoral system, ok, but you get what I mean). In countries like Iran, that just isn't enough - because the regime will manipulate the elections, steal votes, declare martial law, make disobedient people loose the means to feed their families. They control all the media (and in ways that make Fox News seem liberal and fair), they make arrests, they lie and intimidate.

I know - coming out of communism, my country went straight into a new type of dictatorship and we ended up with sanctions roughly two decades ago. And this was a regime that was in many ways less powerful than the one in Iran and this was in Europe. Even with that, changing the regime took years and years of street protests, civil disobediance (and, tbh, outside help and influence, support, etc.) and it was painful and slow - and even after the change, most of the problems of corruption remained (but, at least, the sanctions were over). I don't see that happening in Iran in our lifetimes.

What I mean to say is - It's a dictatorship - the people can hardly make their government do anything, they can't change it on elections and protesting and civil disobediance will most likely end up with death.

So, basically, while I think Iranian regime is horrible, and while I am not qualified to say whether sanctions work or not - at least I can sympathise with people hit by them (especially when games can provide some escapism from their harsh reality).

I feel bad for them.

 

[Ge0force]

no we do see it, if it's some headline in the middle of the news for you, it's the reality of life here. lack of freedom, human rights violations, no freedom of press, financial corruption in the government, these are things that directly affect us and the people who are actually supporting the iranian government here are in the minority.

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That sucks. Seems the Iranian people had it hard already because of the government, and now Trumps boycott is making things even worse for you. I really hope things will be going better soon for your country.

Hating EA makes the average gamer feel and look super educated about the industry, that's why it happens so often with EA but not with any other major gaming corporate with equally shitty business practices.

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That's utter nonsense. EA has (acquired) some very talented studios, but they deserve all the hate they get for their mismanagement and anti-consumer decisions.

 

[BDS]

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this but the fact that OP keeps referring to himself as a "journalist" is the reason the EA tech support won't talk to him. Employees of most major companies are given explicit instructions not to comment to press.

 

[tyfon]

Since Apex is a F2P game I don't see why they couldn't have had it running there but with the microtransactions disabled.
They won't make any money but they would generate tons of goodwill for when the sanctions lift again.

Iran was added back to the FACTA list on December 4th, I think that is the main reason for EA's actions.
But it's not like you have to block all transactions in the country either, just report them to the relevant authorities.
All banks do this for transactions made inside of the FACTA countries.
This can also be evidenced by the other store fronts that are open in these countries.

Most likely this is some exec at EA that looked at the requirements and just said "F the countries on this list, let's just stay out of them".

Now for the whole history of US<->Iran relations, that is just an insane story. I recommend a movie or book called "Persepolis" for an individuals experience of this.

 

[Gamer17]

Isn't EA a Canadian company ?? Weird .up untill now I assumed EA was Canadian .

It's so unfortunate for people of Iran. Some of the most educated loving people in that region (Iranians)are treated like sub human .

Hope a positive change is around the corner for them .

 

[catswaller]

yiiiiikes.

also wow this forum loses its mind over the injustice when a game is exclusive to one storefront but completely brushes it off when an entire nation isn't allowed to play a game because of decades of violent imperialist posturing and sanctions by the usa? (not to mention the us's role in assassination and sponsorship of coups that created the current political situation there)

 

[Deleted member 5028]

yiiiiikes.

also wow this forum loses its mind over the injustice when a game is exclusive to one storefront but completely brushes it off when an entire nation isn't allowed to play a game because of decades of violent imperialist posturing and sanctions by the usa? (not to mention the us's role in assassination and sponsorship of coups that created the current political situation there)

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This is different in that these companies cannot legally provide that game without being in violation of the laws of the country they are based in.

Slack also recently faced this issue.

https://www.theverge.com/platform/a...ran-deactivated-sanctions-license-cuba-crimea

This isn't something they can just ignore, and they cannot be in communication with anyone legally in Iran because it provides support/a service and that's also a violation.

Whether that's right or wrong is another topic, but this is not poor support. It's them complying with law so they don't get fucked.

 

[Dyno]

Yes, EA is the only company that does lootboxes, yes.

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They're the only ones I know of that directly tried to a fight a country on their own law for it yes, to put it back into the context you stripped out.

 

[Schlorgan]

Isn't EA a Canadian company ?? Weird .up untill now I assumed EA was Canadian .

It's so unfortunate for people of Iran. Some of the most educated loving people in that region (Iranians)are treated like sub human .

Hope a positive change is around the corner for them .

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EA is American.

 

[spam musubi]

yiiiiikes.

also wow this forum loses its mind over the injustice when a game is exclusive to one storefront but completely brushes it off when an entire nation isn't allowed to play a game because of decades of violent imperialist posturing and sanctions by the usa? (not to mention the us's role in assassination and sponsorship of coups that created the current political situation there)

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Trying to compare this and make a grandstand about some other issue you're salty about is a really shitty thing to do, really. This is about a complicated geopolitical "real life" problem of two powerful countries butting heads and people getting fucked in between, and comparing some gaming company's shitty practices, which forum complaints can actually have an impact on, is really, really embarrassing. Shame on you for trying to draw some parallels between gaming beef and a serious political mess.

 

[TheRuralJuror]

They're not supposed to be talking to journalists in their positions as well most likely. Still should have provided information on media contact.

 

[gcwy]

What a shitshow of a thread because of concern trolls. No wonder some people don't like the gaming side.

Low post count users coming out the woodwork to pour some fuel on the dumpster fire.

 

[Budi]

They're the only ones I know of that directly tried to a fight a country on their own law for it yes, to put it back into the context you stripped out.

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Well Blizzard cheats it's way through government gambling laws https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...nas-loot-box-laws-by-selling-in-game-currency They did the same with Hearthstone too, scummy as fuck.

 

[Elfotografoalocado]

ITT, Americans need a few weeks to a few months to completely internalize the horrendous, fascistic actions of their government towards third countries and to justify and even cheer them, like happened with every unfair invasion, war, putsch, "destabilization" since... ever. Then years later, everybody will say they were horrified and completely against the senseless sanctions by the fascist Trump, just like now everybody was always against the Irak war.

Know that thousands of people have died due to these sanctions and their consequences in the availability of essential goods.

 

[Deleted member 35598]

Those sanctions are absolutely stupid especially when Europe, the UN and the UScIntelligence services are saying Iran do not have a nucleat program. Those santions are a shame. Why Iranians gamers should pay the price for politics in the first place anyway...

 

[Komo]

It's shitty but it's the US Sanctions. Not really anything Respawn and EA can do about it.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

ITT, Americans need a few weeks to a few months to completely internalize the horrendous, fascistic actions of their government towards third countries and to justify and even cheer them, like happened with every unfair invasion, war, putsch, "destabilization" since... ever. Then years later, everybody will say they were horrified and completely against the senseless sanctions by the fascist Trump, just like now everybody was always against the Irak war.

Know that thousands of people have died due to these sanctions and their consequences in the availability of essential goods.

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i'm just gonna say it, it's all some subtle form of racism where they [hopefully subconsciously] see us as lesser people and people who are deserving of the situation that we're in
if the roles were reversed and my government was responsible for making the lives of the average american harder, i would have been mortified and have so much sympathy and never have the balls to be so dismissive or ignorant and be like "oh did you know there's sanctions? deal with it" or "your government is responsible for this so whatever". it's all so disgusting.

 

[Chirotera]

Sanctions are war. This isn't some disagreement between countries, this is Trump reversing Obama decisions for no reason other than to punish people that don't deserve it to please a political base that is too ignorant to say otherwise.

These sanctions on the Iranian people need to be lifted and relations normalized. Iran is a remarkable country even if its government is shitty. As Americans, we should know that feeling all too well.

I'm sorry you have to deal with this OP.

 

[Masagiwa]

When have Iranian gamer's been able to access anything in their country without a VPN? Isn't the internet over there pretty restricted? I am curious if a VPN would solve the issue.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

When have Iranian gamer's been able to access anything in their country without a VPN? Isn't the internet over there pretty restricted? I am curious if a VPN would solve the issue.

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if you don't know something, don't assume. we can play online games on xbl/psn/steam/nintendo platforms with no problem, without the use of VPNs.

 

[CenturionNami]

And you've guys turned this thread into off topic...

Anyway, the only person being insulting is YOU OP, the PR people were perfectly civil and polite.

 

[Soheil]

I live on Iran and I rarely play EA Games (because I don't like multiplayer games that much), but I feel sorry for thousands of Iranian gamer who are very much into these kinds of games and now they can't access EA servers.

EA is probably the biggest publisher which has the online games with the fanbase (Fifa, Battlefield) in Iran and this is so sad that they are treated this way.

The biggest question is why always EA is the first company to jump on the board in these kinds of situations? I mean there are lots of other online games that are still functional. People are paying for these games and now because of some stupid political war, they can't play what they want. shame

 

[Masagiwa]

if you don't know something, don't assume. we can play online games on xbl/psn/steam/nintendo platforms with no problem, without the use of VPNs.

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It's not easy knowing this stuff when you never been to the country. I've had friends from Iran that told me the internet was pretty censored over there, and that's what I was basing my assumptions on. This was many years ago he told me this. Thanks for the clarification though. I have a question, do people buy mostly digital over there? If not where are the physical copies coming from? Are they imported from a neighbor country?

 

[Agent 47]

Man that sucks politics are preventing people from playing games.

 

[Timeaisis]

How dare EA follow US law.

 

[Window]

Yeah it would be helpful to know if EA/others are selling these games there directly or if they're being bought indirectly via VPN/importing. If EA is selling it directly then they need to be either stop doing so because the game cannot be played online or at the very least provide customer support to make clear the restrictions they're working with. Apex is a tricky situation I suppose though with it being free.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

I have a question, do people buy mostly digital over there? If not where are the physical copies coming from? Are they imported from a neighbor country?

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you can buy them both ways. you can buy digitally by buying PSN/XBL/eShop cards, or buying physical copies that are imported from [mostly] UAE.

It's not easy knowing this stuff when you never been to the country. I've had friends from Iran that told me the internet was pretty censored over their, and that's what I was basing my assumptions on. This was many years ago he told me this. Thanks for the clarification though.

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the internet is heavily restricted, your friends were right. porn/facebook/twitter/youtube/a lot of other stuff is blocked (not that people don't use them, everyone here uses VPNs), but most gaming online services are not blocked.

 

[Masagiwa]

you can buy them both ways. you can buy digitally by buying PSN/XBL/eShop cards, or buying physical copies that are imported from [mostly] UAE.

The internet is heavily restricted, your friends were right. porn/facebook/twitter/youtube/a lot of other stuff is blocked (not that people don't use them, everyone here uses VPNs), but most gaming online services are not blocked.

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Gotcha, it's good to know. Sucks that the Iranian people have to go through all of this due to politics. They are seriously some of the smartest and most humble people I've met over the years.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

The biggest question is why always EA is the first company to jump on the board in these kinds of situations? I mean there are lots of other online games that are still functional. People are paying for these games and now because of some stupid political war, they can't play what they want. shame

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yeah, if EA is doing this and other companies aren't, i really think it's a case of EA being extra and doing something not because they have to, but because they think they have to, probably as a result of misunderstanding the laws and what is ok and what is not.

 

[catswaller]

Trying to compare this and make a grandstand about some other issue you're salty about is a really shitty thing to do, really. This is about a complicated geopolitical "real life" problem of two powerful countries butting heads and people getting fucked in between, and comparing some gaming company's shitty practices, which forum complaints can actually have an impact on, is really, really embarrassing. Shame on you for trying to draw some parallels between gaming beef and a serious political mess.

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This isn't "two powerful countries butting heads", it's a sudden and cruel extension of half a century of unprovoked harm by a superpower towards the innocent citizens of a nation it has done nothing but attack and undermine.

That you see gaming beef as worth getting mad over but this kind of brutality as something to stay quiet about says a lot about either your character or your understanding of the world.

And, I admit to not being an expert on how economic sanctions work, but my understanding is that game companies can absolutely still provide ftp games to iran under the current sanctions -- it just might require more paperwork, or might be less profitable. EA is making a choice to be enthusiastically complicit in this recent bout of cruelty, presumably for the sake of their bottom line. If that is correct, this is absolutely an issue that public backlash could influence.

 

[BossAttack]

How dare EA follow US law.

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Bastards, following the law and whatnot. Why won't they think of us gamers?!

 

[Deleted member 10737]

How dare EA follow US law.

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Bastards, following the law and whatnot. Why won't they think of us gamers?!

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why haven't other american companies been forced to follow this "law"?

 

[Mbolibombo]

I used to be a support technician if I ever responded like the first two people I would not have happy managers.

Wont really comment on any sanctions since I'm not really aware but dropping that info and just leave the chat isnt really ok in my book.

 

[Richter1887]

So let me get this straight, EA opted into the sanctions?

If that's true then they can definitely be blamed.

 

[Plasma]

This is bigger than EA they can't just ignore sanctions.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

So let me get this straight, EA opted into the sanctions?

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yep. seems like they were in a hurry to do something that's not required of them.
i mean if in the next few weeks/months we see other companies also start blocking IPs from iran, i guess i would understand but i have a feeling that's not gonna happen.

 

[Menx64]

A shame the US still is the bully of the world. The Iranian regime is too power hungry and it should offer more freedom to their people, but the US punishing regular people is just as stupid. Sanction the leaders and their families if you will, but banning regular people and threatening the livehood of a country makes them just as oppressive.

 

[Richter1887]

yep. seems like they were in a hurry to do something that's not required of them.
i mean if in the next few weeks/months we see other companies also start blocking IPs from iran, i guess i would understand but i have a feeling that's not gonna happen.

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Man that sucks. Add this to the huge list of reasons to dislike EA.

 

[SweetNicole]

why haven't other american companies been forced to follow this "law"?

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Unless you're a lawyer who is familiar with the particulars of the sanctions, EA's corporate investments, etc, you're simply making a fool of yourself. EA has an interest in getting money. They're a business. For them to block an entire region would not be done without good, sound advice from their legal team.

 

[Deleted member 10737]

Unless you're a lawyer who is familiar with the particulars of the sanctions, EA's corporate investments, etc, you're simply making a fool of yourself. EA has an interest in getting money. They're a business. For them to block an entire region would not be done without good, sound advice from their legal team.

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don't know why you're calling me a fool, i asked a very simple question, with logic behind it. if steam and XBL, products of american companies, are getting away with being open to iranians, why is the situation different for EA?
but whatever, EA is known for making "sound" decisions. i'm out of this thread.