Google’s facing a wildly huge fine from Russia, reaching the mind-boggling figure of $2.5 decillion, all because it blocked certain YouTube channels.
Over the past few years, this fine has swollen like a balloon, starting with a 100,000 Ruble penalty when Russian media outlets Tsargrad and RIA FAN won their legal battles after their channels were restricted. These channels belonged to the Patriot Media Group, once led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, who mysteriously passed away in an aircraft explosion following his brief revolt against the military leaders in Russia. The fine kept doubling each week it wasn’t paid, and here we are now, with an amount that can’t even be comprehended. According to RCB (via PC Gamer), the fine is now beyond anything real.
Google’s assets, which are over $300 billion as of June 2024, seem puny in comparison. Even selling countless YouTube Premium subscriptions wouldn’t help them gather the funds to pay this fine. It’s unlikely they’ll even attempt to pay it. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Google stopped ads in Russia and its Russian branch went bankrupt soon after. I think we can all agree that’s a lot of money!
On a side note, the invasion by Russia had a big impact on game development too. One of the most affected games, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornorbyl, is finally nearing its release after a bumpy journey. Set in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, this game is launching for PC and Xbox Series X|S on November 20.
