Ubisoft and Take-Two Interactive are suspending game sales in Russia in light of its invasion of Ukraine, joining a growing list of companies that have decided to cut ties with the country (via Engadget).
In an updated post on its blog, Ubisoft announced its decision to pause sales in Russia, citing the “ongoing tragedy in Ukraine.” The blog post itself doesn’t go into detail about the ban, but a report from Bloomberg indicates it includes both physical and digital game sales.
Take-Two has also decided to temporarily block new game sales and installations in both Russia and Belarus. The ban applies to all of Take-Two’s subsidiaries, including 2K Games and Rockstar, the developer behind the Grand Theft Auto series. The news comes just about a week before GTA Online and GTA V arrive on next-gen consoles.
“We have watched recent events unfold in Ukraine with concern and sadness,” Alan Lewis, Take-Two’s vice president of corporate communications and public affairs, said in a statement to The Verge. “After significant consideration, last week, we decided to stop new sales, installations, and marketing support across all our labels in Russia and Belarus at this time.”
Last week, EA Games removed Russian and Belarusian teams from its FIFA and NHL games and later halted sales of its games and virtual currencies completely. Activision Blizzard also suspended new sales “of and in” its games on Friday, while Epic Games followed suit just a day later. Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red announced last week that it’s cutting Russia off from both digital and physical game sales as well.
Read more on theverge.com