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Олександр КузьменкоGameDev Eng
26 September 2025, 08:15
2025-09-26
Destiny 2 developers have blocked access to players from Russia, Belarus and several other countries due to "legal restrictions"
Players of the popular multiplayer shooter Destiny 2 from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and other post-Soviet countries have been complaining for about a week about a TAPIR error that prevented them from entering the game. Developers from Bungie studio reported that they had blocked their access due to «legal restrictions.» Now Russian players are flooding Destiny 2 with negative reviews about the «game is not political.»
Players of the popular multiplayer shooter Destiny 2 from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and other post-Soviet countries have been complaining for about a week about a TAPIR error that prevented them from entering the game. Developers from Bungie studio reported that they had blocked their access due to «legal restrictions.» Now Russian players are flooding Destiny 2 with negative reviews about the «game is not political.»
Reports of the problems began appearing around September 15, according to The Game Post. Players were also unable to connect to Destiny 2 servers due to a TAPIR error. Bungie uses TAPIR to indicate service outages, usually during maintenance. But this time, there was no scheduled maintenance, and the errors persisted.
Over the next few days, dozens of posts appeared on Bungie’s official forums all about the same problem: Destiny 2 simply wouldn’t let players connect. The issue wasn’t specific to one platform; it affected players on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.
Some players said they found limited workarounds by using a VPN or changing DNS settings, while others reported that even these methods didn’t work, especially on Russian PlayStation accounts.
«F*ck those uncles.» The author of the novel «Altered Carbon» said that he would not publish his books in Russia, and spoke about cooperation with the Ukrainian studio Gunzilla Games
Initially, moderators informed players that the team was investigating a spike in reports of TAPIR. But on September 24, Bungie began providing a terse explanation: «Destiny services are not available where access is restricted by law.»
Many players have been asking Bungie to name the specific law they’re citing that allegedly blocks access to Destiny 2 in their countries. The developers have yet to release a clear statement or a full list of countries affected by the ban.
Destiny 2 is a multiplayer sci-fi first-person shooter with MMO elements. The game was released in 2017 as a sequel to Destiny (2014), and transitioned from a premium model to a shareware model with paid add-ons.
Back in 2022, Bungie announced the suspension of all Destiny 2 sales in Russia and Belarus due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
«Starting today, we will be working with our partners to suspend all sales and trade of Destiny 2 in Russia and Belarus. Players in these regions will still be able to play any Destiny 2 content they have already purchased and download the free version of the game, but will no longer be able to purchase new content and in-game currency,» the developers said.
Countries affected by this restriction reportedly include Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. Players in Iran and Afghanistan have also reported encountering the same TAPIR error, indicating that the ban may not only apply to countries from the post-Soviet space.
Destiny 2's Steam rating has already dropped to 35% positive reviews in the last 30 days. Most of the negative reviews are in Russian.
«The developers simply took it and blocked the game in my region. I’m not going to use workarounds and I don’t advise anyone to do so,» writes one of the Russian players.
«Don’t you follow the laws of the Russian Federation? You belong in the trash!» wrote another in his review (no matter what it means).
