Mists of Pandaria, a new update of War of Warcraft that is coming out later this year, is now unlikely to be accessible to players in Iran. (Photo by Blizzard Entertainment)
The Guardian reports that last week, Blizzard Entertainment’s online message board started receiving messages from Iranian players complaining that they could not access the War of Warcraft’s servers. The War of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game which is tremendously popular.
Since then, the company posted a statement on the message board stating, “What we can tell you is that United States trade restrictions and economic sanction laws prohibit Blizzard from doing business with residents of certain nations, including Iran. [. . .] This week, Blizzard tightened up its procedures to ensure compliance with these laws, and players connecting from the affected nations are restricted from access to Blizzard games and services.”
The statement further explained that U.S. sanctions also prevent Blizzard from providing any refunds, credits, transfers, or other service options to accounts in other countries that have similar sanctions.
The Guardian explains that “World of Warcraft is the world’s largest subscription-based online multiplayer game, with around 10 million users. Participants pay a monthly fee to explore its vast landscapes, engaging in quests and upgrading their in-game characters.”
According to Public Radio International, War of Warcraft fans in Cuba, Libya, North Korea and Syria are in the same boat. U.S. sanctions restrict residents in these countries from playing War of Warcraft as well.
