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Dimapur, March 6 (EMN): In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and Epic Games have halted sales of their games in Russia.
In a tweet from its newsroom Twitter handle, Epic Games said that it was "stopping commerce with Russia" in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Epic Games wrote, "Epic is stopping commerce with Russia in our games in response to its invasion of Ukraine. We’re not blocking access for the same reason other communication tools remain online: the free world should keep all lines of dialogue open."
Epic is stopping commerce with Russia in our games in response to its invasion of Ukraine. We’re not blocking access for the same reason other communication tools remain online: the free world should keep all lines of dialogue open.
— Epic Games Newsroom (@EpicNewsroom) March 5, 2022
In a letter to employees, Activision Blizzard president and COO Daniel Alegre has announced the company will halt all sales of its games in Russia, Alegre wrote, "The company is matching employee donations 2:1 to organizations providing immediate relief in the region. Together we have raised over $300,000 in this effort. Next week we plan to add additional charities to choose from for consideration and also will raise the company matching limit from $1,000 to $10,000."
In its statement on Friday, Electronic Arts (EA) said that the company was "shocked at the conflict" and that it has made the decision to stop sales of games and content in Russia and Belarus.
— Electronic Arts (@EA) March 5, 2022
"We have made the decision to stop sales of our games and content, including virtual currency bundles, in Russia and Belarus while this conflict continues. As a result, our games and content will no longer be available for purchase in our Russian region storefront on Origin or the EA app, including through in-game stores," wrote EA. "We are 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."
Activision Blizzard, EA and Epic Games' moves is the latest in a series of similar moves from Microsoft, CD Projekt Red and Nintendo.
Japanese gaming giant Nintendo has temporarily put its Russian eShop into maintenance mode, the company said in a notice on its Russian website. Similarly, Microsoft has suspended "new" product sales and services in Russia and CD Projekt Red took to Twitter to announce the halting of sales in Russia and Belarus.
— CD PROJEKT RED (@CDPROJEKTRED) March 3, 2022