EA has announced that it will stop selling games and content in the countries of Russia and Belarus.
This follows an announcement from EA earlier in the week where the company said it would be removing “all Russian clubs” from its FIFA and NHL games. Now all of EA’s games and “virtual currency bundles” will also be removed from sale in Russia and Belarus “while this conflict continues.”
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 and has been using military force on cities within the country, as citizens have been seeking asylum across the border.
The Russian region storefronts of Origin, EA’s game distribution platform, the EA app and in-game stores will no longer sell any games or content. EA adds that it is “also working with our platform partners to remove our titles from their stores and stop the sale of new in-game content in the region.
“As this deeply troubling situation evolves, we’re continually reviewing the steps we can take […] we are actively evaluating other areas of our games and operations, and will update with any further actions,” adds EA.
You can read the complete statement here.
EA has now joined Microsoft in suspending sales in Russia, with the tech company saying it has “publicly raised our concerns that these attacks against civilians violate the Geneva Convention”. CD Projekt Red will also halt game sales in both Russia and Belarus.
All of this follows an open letter from Ukraine’s vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, asking the games industry to stop dealing with Russia.
“I appeal to temporarily block all Russian and Belorussian accounts, temporarily stop the participation of Russian and Belorussian teams and gamers in all international esports events and cancel all international events holding on the territory of Russia and Belarus,” asked Fedorov.
In other news, the Nintendo eShop has been suspended in Russia.
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