Gaming’s biggest power players are cutting ties with Russia

digitaltrends.com:

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, much of the world has pushed back. Governments have imposed strict sanctions on the country, and others, including the United States, have even banned the import of Russian oil in an attempt to inflict never-before-seen financial damage on the Kremlin. A fair number of companies have also taken actions against Russia for its invasion, including some of the largest players in the game industry.

Over the course of the past two weeks, the average Russian video game-playing citizen has effectively been cut off from their hobby of choice. With sales restrictions coming in from all corners of the gaming world, from indie developers to AAA publishers, Russian users are being frozen out of both new hardware and software.

The most notable actions taken against Russia by members of the game industry have come from its three biggest players, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. On March 4, Microsoft was the first of the three to outright stop “all new sales” of its products and services in Russia, a move that includes first-party Xbox titles and even Xbox hardware. Sony pulled its latest first-party release, Gran Turismo 7 on the same day, but just five days later, on March 9, similarly halted all of its sales. In a statement given to CNBC, the PlayStation parent company said that it was no longer selling any hardware or software in Russia and that the PlayStation store would not be available in the region.

Nintendo’s actions concerning Russia, on the other hand, haven’t been as outwardly antagonistic. On March 7, the company’s eShop was taken down in Russia, although not on Nintendo’s behalf. Instead, the payment company that processes transactions through the shop caused its closure after