Youths play an online multiplayer game at an internet cafe in Tehran, a hobby made more expensive due to sanctions against the country, which inadvertently affect the game industry. — AFP
Iran’s millions-strong legion of gamers revel in online worlds, but they have to fight daily real-life obstacles imposed by US sanctions in their quest to level up and keep playing.
"It's a problem between governments and a pain for the consumer," said 24-year-old gamer and game journalist Amir Golkhani.
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Youths play an online multiplayer game at an internet cafe in Tehran, a hobby made more expensive due to sanctions against the country, which inadvertently affect the game industry. — AFP
Game stores spare gamers having to pay the full price for games by selling access to several gamers, who share what's locally known as a ‘capacity account’. — AFP
Youths still want to buy games legally in Iran, despite sanctions, with some considered hacked accounts and pirating to be ‘theft’. — AFP
Surprisingly, Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox Series X can be found on sale, even though they are nearly impossible to acquire in many countries since the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted global supply chains. — AFP
A vendor sells PlayStation 4 (PS4), PS5 and Xbox game consoles at a shop in Tehran central market, which surprisingly has international games despite the threat of US sanctions. — AFP
Game shops have to fight daily real-life obstacles imposed by US sanctions in their quest to level up and keep playing. — AFP
A man walks past a window shop displaying PlayStation 4 (PS4) game consoles for sale at a shop in the central market of Iran's capital Tehran on January 24,2021. Iran's millions-strong legion of gamers revel in online worlds, but they have to fight daily real-life obstacles imposed by US sanctions in their quest to level up and keep playing. — AFP
Youths play an online multiplayer game at an Internet cafe in Iran's capital Tehran. — AFP
Youths play an online multiplayer game at an internet cafe in Iran's capital Tehran. Iran's millions-strong legion of gamers revel in online worlds, but they have to fight daily real-life obstacles imposed by US sanctions in their quest to level up and keep playing. — AFP
A vendor displays a PlayStation 4 game at his shop in Tehran's central market, even though the country isn't officially served by game makers. — AFP
A youth plays an online multiplayer game at an internet cafe in Iran's capital Tehran, made especially difficult due to US sanctions imposed against the country. — AFP
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