Releasing today worldwide, sources speaking to Eurogamer stated the company made the decision overnight to pull the game off the store. Sony is yet to formally announce the game’s removal, but the game’s store page features the message “Release date pending confirmation.” The move comes after various companies have suspended sales of various products in the country over its invasion of Ukraine. Today, Microsoft announced it would stop new sales of its products in the country, and yesterday, CD Projekt has halted all sales of its games through GOG in Russia and Belarus. It will also cease distributing physical stock deliveries in both countries. “The entire CD Projekt team stands firm with the people of Ukraine,” reads the statement. “While we are not a political entity capable of directly influencing state matters, and don’t aspire to be one, we do believe that commercial entities, when united, have the power to inspire global change in the hearts and minds of ordinary people. “We know that players in Russia and Belarus, individuals who have nothing to do with the invasion of Ukraine, will be impacted by this decision, but with this action, we wish to further galvanize the global community to speak about what is going on in the heart of Europe.” EA is also showing its support for Ukraine by pulling Russian teams and clubs from its FIFA offerings. In a statement, EA said it has initiated processes to remove the Russian National team and all Russian clubs from EA Sports FIFA products including FIFA 22, FIFA Mobile, and FIFA Online. It is also evaluating related changes to other areas of its games. The company has also stopped sales of its games and content, including virtual currency bundles, in Russia and Belarus while the conflict continues. As a result, its games and content will no longer be available for purchase on the storefront of Origin or the EA app, including through in-game stores in the regions. The company is also working with its platform partners to remove titles from stores and stop the sale of new in-game content in the region. Bloober Team, the developers of The Medium, has also halted sales of its games in Russia and Belarus, and many gaming companies have pledged to donate to various charities that support the people of Ukraine. Earlier this week, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov called upon many gaming companies to block players in both Russia and Belarus. Fedorov asked gaming companies to stop esports teams and players in both countries from participating in all international events and to cancel all events scheduled in both Belarus and Russia. He also specifically called upon Riot Games, Ubisoft, Gameloft, and World of Warships developer Wargaming.net to close offices in Russia. Apple recently paused all product sales in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, and has moved to limit access to digital services, such as Apple Pay inside Russia, and has restricted the availability of Russian state media applications outside the country. Google is also showing its support by expanding security protections, updating Search and Maps in Ukraine with SOS alerts on Search, and have temporarily disabled some live Google Maps features in the country to help “protect the safety of local communities and their citizens.” It has also added information on refugee and migrant centers in neighboring countries. Google is also blocking YouTube channels connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe, and noted that products like Google Pay may become unavailable in certain countries.
