Games firms opposing Russia are cutting off a $3.4bn market
James Batchelor
Editor-in-Chief
Wednesday 9th March 2022
For the past week, some of the biggest names in video games have been halting all sales in Russia in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine.
So far, Microsoft, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, CD Projekt and Bloober Team, Supercell and CI Games have all actively taken a stance, while others are complying with economic sanctions imposed by the EU, US and other nations.
Twitch, for example, informed Russian streamers that they would no longer receive payments or be able to make purchases if their account was linked to one of the Russian banks affected by the sanctions. Similarly, restrictions on financial institutions may be a factor in why Nintendo suspended payments in Russian rubles and placed the Switch eShop into maintenance mode for the region.
But what's the broader context here? How big are video games in Russia, andjust how much business companies are foregoing by making these moves?
IDG Consulting shared estimates for 2021 games revenues in Russia with GamesIndustry.biz, saying the market generated around $3.4 billion last year.
Take-Two preventing players from spending on GTA Online will certainly impact the country's games revenues
The bulk of this, as with any market, stems from mobile games at an estimated $1.4 billion, while PC follows closely at $1.2 billion. Console revenue was estimated at $864 million, with the majority believed to come from digital sales (via stores such as the eShop) at $549 million.
Some companies have also cut off Belarus -- the nation that borders both Russia and Ukraine, through which the Russian military is also able to enter the latter country -- with Newzoo estimating that
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