I agree that Epic Games should have never allowed them in the tournament in the first place. That's a mistake on Epic's part and it does make them seem like they're trying to weasel out of paying prize money.

This is discrimination. But not all discrimination is unjustified. I discriminate against people all the time. I discriminate against unpleasant people when choosing whom I interact with. I discriminate against companies that have a history of doing bad things. Epic discriminates against residents of a country that broke a decades-long peace in Europe. I believe it is justified.

I think a good compromise solution would be to donate the prize money to a humanitarian organisation. That way it doesn't seem like Epic is only doing it because of the money.

[–] dependencyInjection@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Firstly I think if they let him in then they have to pay. Otherwise they couple have banned his entry.

Also, why should regular Russians be punished for the actions of their government?

I don’t remember being excluded from things when my government illegally invaded Iraq (UK).

[–] sorrybookbroke@sh.itjust.works 20 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Eh, I can understand why they don't want to send the money. A large quantity will be taxed and used for military funds, on top of that whatever is bought bolsters the russian economy.

The only reason why russian currency is as bad as it is now, thus making the war effort pretty harsh, is the sanctioning of and willing non-participation in the russian economy.

Video games, tournament winnings, big macs, etc. all contribute to the general economy. Some economists would argue that's the majority of it in this day and age.

As for the punishment part, it's sad that common people have to suffer but it's the only way to bring a conclusion to this specific war. On the topic of iraq, I'd argue the UK and US should have had the same situation happen to them during their immoral invasions

[–] Uniquitous@lemmy.one 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Putting pressure on the citizens may cause them to transmit that pressure upwards to their governments. You did not face such pressure because no one on Iraq's side had any that they could meaningfully apply.

[–] NateNate60@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The answer to why you weren't excluded but Russians are is simple: vae victis.

Some countries do things that others don't like. Other countries retaliate. But some retaliation is more effective than others.

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 22 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Nobody looks good here but kudos to Epic for having a backbone and trying to do the right thing.

[–] chase_what_matters@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Agreed, but I will say it’s easy for Epic to have a “backbone” when it involves not paying out $200k. Seems like a perfect scenario for them, unless runner up makes a claim to the prize money.

The gray area of them playing from Belarus is not so gray in my opinion. Everyone knows they have Russian’s hand up their ass.

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lawyers will get involved. If they wanted to send a message they could donate the winnings to the Ukrainian red cross

[–] chase_what_matters@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I like that.

[–] dependencyInjection@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

$200k to epic is like a penny to us. Meaningless.

[–] bl4ckblooc@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Honestly, being in Belarus is not a big difference from being is Russia. That’s like them saying “we want to get our money from things that Russia can’t get, but we don’t want to really leave Russia”