Gamepressure Almost Banned in Russia for Weedcraft Game Guide
Roskomnadzor has repeatedly threatened to block our „web-site” in Russia for posting our guide to Vile Monarch's Weedcraft Inc. The same game also reportedly contributed to the banning of Metacritic in the country.
So, buckle up: The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, an entity fond of exactly two things: long names and censorship, has recently found the time necessary to flood Gamepressure's inbox, prophesying the banning of Gamepressure inside the Russian Federation. Reason? Apparently it was giving you instructions on how to grow and then trade illegal substances... in the game Weedcraft Inc by Polish Vile Monarch. This is how we almost got signed on the blacklist which is the second, ominous name of today: the Unified register of domain names, Internet web-site page links and network addresses enabling to identify the Internet web-sites containing the information prohibited for public distribution in the Russian Federation:
[…] due to the fact that this Internet web-site page contains the information about methods and techniques of development, manufacture and consumption of drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors, supply and sale areas of drugs, substances and their precursors, cultivation methods and areas of narcotic plants.
Russian censorship hates Weedcraft
We admit we didn't know whether to dread or cheer. However, the banning never happened – someone in Roskomnadzor must have finally realized that the guide was about a computer game.
Weedcraft Inc was not only a great chance to get some exposure to infamous Russian censorship apparatus. Here's what we found out when we asked Vile Monarch to comment on the matter:
After the game released on consoles, interest in was renewed – as it turned out, not only among gamers, but also among the Russian "apparatchiks" (word used to describe full-time, professional functionaries of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union – ed. note). The first impact of this that reached us was that the entire Metacritic was banned (!) because it listed Weedcraft. We laugh that in this way, Vile Monarch has casually imposed its own portion of sanctions on Russia.
Kacper Kwiatkowski, Co-Boss, Vile Monarch
We're nothing short of gladness that we can join this distinguished group, we congratulate Vile Monarch studios for their contribution to the sanctions, and Roskomnadzor for keen vigilance and a firm grasp of reality. We've asked Metacritic to officially confirm their ban – we're waiting for their answer, and hope everyone is well on their side. Smaller media sparingly reported the site had been taken down in October 2022, but today, on that particular "Internet web-site page," you can still read Weedcraft reviews, the aggregator is also not in the Russian "Unified register of domain names, Internet web-site page links..." et cetera, et cetera.
If you need help playing Weedcraft, although it may be controversial in Russia, you can always check our Game Guide <3
Roskomnadzor hot on the trail
Blocking sites on the "Russian Internet" is Roskomnadzor's meat and potatoes. Since it was established in 2008, it has been persistently pursuing content that contradicts Russian government propaganda, including, but not limited to, the gravest threats that the “government” of Russia faces: political opposition, LGBT, and Ukraine. Banned or fined sites and services already include:
- Telegram
- Amazon
- Facebook and Instagram (Meta)
- Github
- TikTok
- Wikipedia
- …and even the poor Chess.com
The following games were also subject to banning or censoring:
- Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- For Freedom Ichkeriya: BAMUT
- Tell Me Why
- As well as numerous other productions containing "LGBT propaganda," such as Life is Strange, The Sims 4, The Last of Us or Assassin's Creed, etc.
