Consolers get ready - it seems that this year they will be left without COD. The disc version of the game will not be available in stores in Russia. What is the reason?
A big scandal is brewing around Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War. Sony and Microsoft have decided that they will not ship discs with their product to Russia. What is the problem if almost no one uses material carriers? And the problem is in consoles - it is for them that the game will become practically inaccessible.
Why did this happen? There is no answer at the moment. Sony and Microsoft are silent. Russian fans of the Call of Duty series tried to find out the reason from M.Video, as one of the largest retailers. The company responded to its customers on social media that they have not received any official clarification about this.
Why did Sony and Microsoft make this decision? In fact, there are two hypotheses, and both sound quite plausible.
Cranberry in the game
The Call of Duty series is a very pro-political project. Developers through their game set out their "alternative view of the story", which was massively ridiculed by fans. For example, at one time Call of Duty: Modern Warfare raised a huge hype due to the fact that for most of the plot the Russians are shown as terrible monsters, and the Americans and the British are saviors. At the same time, the game absolutely does not try to add halftones to the narrative. Everything is literally black and white. Perhaps the publishers simply did not want to face another wave of negativity from Russian players.
Regulators and censors
The second possible explanation for why Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will not appear in Russia is due to the regulatory-censorship system. Before a project appears in the country, it must be checked by government agencies. First of all, state regulators evaluate whether the project violates current legislation. And with this, Black Ops Cold War can have serious problems if the plot has serious discrepancies with history and the demonization of Russian soldiers and security forces.
Difficulties may also arise at the stage of work of censors. If it seems to them that some pieces of content are unacceptable on the territory of Russia, they will simply be cut out. Maybe Sony and Microsoft don't want their project to go through the censor machine, therefore, they will not bring discs to Russia.