Update: In the hours after Microsoft confirmed the suspension of all sales in Russia, EA announced similar plans to “suspend sales of our games and content, including virtual currency packages, in Russia and Belarus.”
As Microsoft said in a statement, EA focused specifically on selling its games and packages, not on existing purchases, and the publisher confirmed in an email to GamesRadar that “it doesn’t stop accessing local services right now, which means players who are already have purchased a title in the region, they will be able to access their game. “However, EA says it is also working with our partners in the platform to remove our titles from their stores and stop selling new in-game content in region “.
EA reiterated that it “actively assesses other areas of our games and operations” amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. The publisher withdrew Russian teams from several EA Sports properties just two days ago.
We contacted Microsoft to clarify how today’s move could affect Xbox’s operations in Russia, particularly in terms of access to Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass, but a PR representative confirmed that the company “has nothing more to share at the moment.” .
Original story:
Microsoft has stopped selling “new” products and services in Russia in support of ongoing sanctions against the country after its attack on Ukraine.
The company’s president, Brad Smith, announced the decision in a blog post earlier today, just two days after Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov called on PlayStation and Xbox to temporarily ban all Russian accounts.
“Today we announce that we will stop all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia,” Smith wrote, emphasizing the company’s position on “this unjustified, unprovoked and illegal invasion by Russia.”
This shutdown includes similar to Windows, Xbox, Microsoft Azure cloud computing and others. In addition, Microsoft says it “stops many aspects of our business in Russia” and “works in step with the governments of the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom.”
It is not clear at this time what other business “aspects” Microsoft is stopping, nor do we know to what extent this decision will affect Xbox’s operations in Russia. The company’s statement specifies “new sales”, so while the Russians will not be able to buy a new Xbox Series X from official sources, for example, when and how Russian access to services such as Xbox Live or Xbox Game Pass will be affected is less concrete . We have contacted Microsoft for more details and will update our reports if we receive a response.
More and more game companies and developers are starting to act in connection with the war in Ukraine. Earlier today, PlayStation seemingly withdrew Gran Turismo 7 from Russian stores, although Sony has not yet commented on the situation directly. Yesterday, the developer of Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 CD Projekt stopped all digital sales and sales of goods in Russia and Belarus. Two days ago, EA withdrew the Russian teams from their last contributions to FIFA and NHL.
What is it for Ukrainian game developers to work and live in the shadow of war.