Results of the battle for metro2033.ru: Speed has beaten money

Today at 17:02:55 Moscow time, the fate of the iconic domain for the first Metro game was decided. Despite bids soaring above 65,000 rubles at the RU-CENTER auction, the domain was ultimately captured by a REG.RU client (via the WEBREG-RU technical gateway).

Current domain status: REGISTERED, NOT DELEGATED, UNVERIFIED

This means the domain was successfully "sniped," but its new owner has yet to verify their identity with a passport or configure DNS servers. The website is currently "in limbo," while its future is being decided behind the scenes.

Who is the new owner?

There are three primary scenarios:

1. A Professional Cybersquatter. A domain hunter whose scripts proved faster than corporate budgets. They placed the minimum bid required for the capture and will now likely list the domain for resale at a price in the hundreds of thousands of rubles.
2. REG.RU’s "Warehouse." Registrars often capture valuable expiring assets themselves. In this case, the domain will soon appear in theREG.RUstore as a "Premium" listing with a price tag that would make any average fan wince.
3. A Corporate "Shield." The least likely but still possible scenario: the publisher PLAION or agents of Dmitry Glukhovsky*** realized the mistake at the last moment and utilized REG.RU’s technical power to rescue the asset, preventing it from falling into the hands of speculators.

Why does this matter to us? While the old 2033 domain drifts between lawyers and squatters, we continue building the future atmetro2039.ru. Today’s incident highlights just how toxic and unstable owning the "old bones" of a franchise can be.

We remain independent and are looking forward to tonight’s Xbox Showcase to be the first to tell you all about the next chapter of Metro!

*** — Recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation.